Experts in the Nigerian aviation industry have described the acquisition of a new presidential jet, Airbus 330-200, for President Bola Tinubu as a waste of inadequate resources. Experts said that the 15 years old aircraft was more costly to maintain than the Boeing Business Jet (9BBJ) B737 aircraft, which the presidency planned to discard due to high maintenance cost......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
One of the experts, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Daily Independent in an interview that the price of the new aircraft may have been inflated to “provide funds for the boys.”
Though the Federal Government is silent on the cost of the airplane, a presidency source claimed the government acquired the aircraft at the rate of $100 million, with additional $50 million for retrofit.
The source insisted that the reason given for dumping the old BBJ aircraft was flimsy, challenging the government to make public the maintenance costs of the aircraft.
The source said: “Anything that has to do with the government, our people tend to inflate it. Boeing 737 BBJ was manufactured around 1998, while the current Airbus 300-200 was manufactured in 1994. It’s an older brand.
“The common sense is that if you can upgrade an older brand, why can’t you upgrade the newer brand? The BBJ is newer than this now. The BBJ was manufactured to serve Heads of State and VIPs. It’s a nice airplane and very rugged. What the government did was what they just did with the new one. They could have upgraded it and changed the interior and other necessary things.
“How can you claim a new generation aircraft such as a Boeing Business Jet that can easily be upgraded, refurbished as they did the A330, which you said is 15 years old be problematic? Boeing is one of the fleet that Nigerian engineers are mostly mastered in. Nigeria Airways operated the fleet brand and the variants over the years had several similarities.”
Also, Capt. Mohammed Badamasi, a pilot with the defunct Nigeria Airways, said that it was necessary for the public to know the stage at which the BBJ became problematic to the government.
According to him, the BBJ had a life expectancy of between 15 and 23 years, depending on usage and maintenance culture.
Badamasi explained that for instance, an aircraft used for commercial flights between 10 and 12 hours daily should have a design life span cycle between 75, 000 cycles and 112, 000 cycles within a 15 years period.
He maintained that the presidential aircraft BBJ was not operated as a commercial aircraft, therefore, it should be far from 75, 000 cycles.
He pointed out that if the aircraft was properly maintained, there was no good reason to replace it yet.
Badamasi added: “These questions need to be answered. Another reason to replace the aircraft would be based on expert advice. For the BBJ to meet some performance requirements for the long range of up to 6, 000 nautical miles, it can accommodate only four people. This is not good enough for our type of entourage that accompanies our president on a trip.
“Airbus 330 has the range and accommodation needed to fly from Abuja or anywhere in the country to Hawaii or Tokyo nonstop, with a range of 7,300 nautical miles and a lifespan of 30 years.
“The aircraft has been bought and is already in the country. Let it be well maintained for the next 15 years, because I heard that the aircraft is already 15 years old.”
Another industry expert, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, insisted that the age of an aircraft does not matter as long as the maintenance schedule was strictly adhered to.
He, however, hoped that Nigeria would have the maintenance culture and manpower to maintain the airplane, stressing that Airbus A330 aircraft are a complex airplane.
He also wondered if it was the right time for the country to have another presidential jet.