US embassy cable - 04LAGOS1469

UNCLAS LAGOS 001469 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOT PASS TO FAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, ECON, EINV, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: POLITICAL UNDERTONE OF SLOK AIR'S GROUNDING 
 
 
1. (U) Summary: Since the suspension and subsequent 
revocation of its license in March, Slok Air remains 
grounded. Though accused of having violated aviation 
regulations, the airline's travails have been 
associated with a political face-off between Orji Kalu, 
Abia State Governor and owner of Slok, and the ruling 
Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). While aviation 
operators are divided on the merits of the revocation 
of the airline's license, the Nigerian Civil Aviation 
Authority (NCAA) denies that it succumbed to political 
influence.  Other stakeholders are watching the 
regulatory authority attentively. End summary. 
 
2. (U) On March 12, 2004 the NCAA announced the 
suspension of two domestic airline operators, Slok 
Airlines and IRS Airlines, citing violation of aviation 
regulations. The NCAA claimed that IRS Airlines was 
sanctioned for destroying an instrument landing system 
at Kano Airport while Slok was suspended for offenses 
ranging from operating more aircrafts than approved by 
the NCAA to inadequate maintenance of its fleet. 
Although IRS has since regained its license and resumed 
operations, Slok remains grounded, as the Aviation 
Ministry subsequently revoked its air transport license 
(ATL). 
 
3. (U) Slok Air began operating in January 2004 with 
two B737-200 aircrafts flying daily between Lagos, 
Enugu, Port Harcourt and Owerri.  Having planned to 
extend flights to thirteen other Nigerian cities, the 
airline was to have acquired possibly eight additional 
aircrafts. By March the airline had added two more 
aircrafts to its fleet, but these were not listed on 
its operations specification documentation. Soon 
thereafter, the airline was accused of running all four 
aircraft with inadequate maintenance, as well as 
disregarding weather advisories. 
 
4. (U) Slok Air's suspension and subsequent revocation 
of its ATL nonetheless has political undertones. Slok 
Airlines is a subsidiary of Slok Nigeria Limited and is 
owned by Orji Uzor Kalu, Governor of Abia state. Kalu 
who recently had a face-off with a chieftain of the 
ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), is said to have 
floated the airline in anticipation of a presidential 
campaign in 2007. According to Stanley Uhajuruka, 
Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Kalu has, 
however, been a "thorn in the flesh" of the PDP, on 
whose platform he was twice elected governor. Uhajuruka 
charges that to "check" the outspoken governor, the GON 
revoked his airline's ATL under the cover of 
technicalities. 
 
5. (U) Aviation operators are divided on the issue. 
Edward Boyo, Managing Director, Overland Airways, 
believes the sanctions were justified and long overdue. 
But the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative, an 
aviation non-governmental organization, believes the 
GON's actions were high-handed and should be reversed. 
What seems clear is that Governor Kalu was not making 
many friends in the industry.  Boyo, for instance, 
added that besides violating industry regulations, Slok 
Air was charging airfares 20 percent lower than its 
competitors, pricing that nearly destabilized the 
market and would have been unsustainable. 
 
6. (U) Comment: Although Slok Air might have failed to 
abide by the regulations, the way the sanctions were 
imposed suggests political motivation. Boyo has 
asserted that the carrier "would have been sanctioned 
much earlier if it were not owned by a governor", a 
statement that reflects the school of thought that if 
the governor had remained "good", his aircraft would 
have continued to fly despite their technical 
shortcomings. Skeptics say the Nigerian Civil Aviation 
Authority has to do more than just deny that political 
motives were behind its actions; it needs to sanction 
all erring operators without fear or favor. This is not 
the case, so the operators, investors and other 
stakeholders are watching the industry's regulators 
more closely now than in the past.  End comment. 
 
BROWNE