Emeka Anokwuru

Emeka Anokwuru

Emeka Anokwuru has an indepth knowledge of the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria. 

Over the years, he worked in prominent media houses such as The Mail, The Nigerian Observer, The Post Express, Anchor, Traveller's Weekend Magazine now (African Travel Quarterly Magazine) as Editor, New Age Newspapers, and The SUN.

He is versatile, a publisher, outspoken, witty, a team player, a great motivator and widely travelled. He is a public commentator and an accomplished tourism writer in Nigeria. Later he moved over to the travel press and also became their chairman.

In its determination to enhance the security of all Nigerian ports, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will in December this year commence the full implementation of International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code levy from all port facility owners and shipping companies. This means that ship owners, shipping companies, terminal and jetty operators, port facility owners, international oil companies (IOCs) and mariners that operate on Nigerian waters will pay an additional levy to NIMASA, Nigeria’s ISPS Code designated authority (DA), from December. In a marine notice issued recently and signed by Ezekiel Bala Agaba, executive director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, on behalf of the management, the agency confirmed that it has concluded the Verification Inspection Exercise (VIE) of all port facilities in Nigeria.

Wednesday, 25 September 2013 00:00

Airbus wins Orders From China For A320 Aircraft

Airbus says it has secured orders for 43 of its A320 family of aircraft from two new Chinese airlines. Qingdao Airlines signed a deal for 23 aircraft, including five regular A320s and 18 of the re-engined A320neo.Zhejiang Loong Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding for 20 Airbus A320 aircraft, including 11 A320s and nine of the A320neo. Both deals, announced at a Beijing airshow, must be approved by the Chinese government before progressing, according to the BBC. If given the go-ahead, deliveries are expected to begin in 2016. Qingdao Airlines is based at the coastal city of Qingdao in Shandong Province, and is set to begin operations in 2014 with leased aircraft. Zhejiang Loong Airlines is based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and is scheduled to begin operations this year. Source: http://businessdayonline.com

President Goodluck Jonathan, urged Nigerians to use the nation's rich cultural heritage as a tool for achieving peace and national integration.Jonathan made the call at the opening ceremony of the 27th National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) in Yenagoa.Jonathan, represented by Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa, said that the nation's rich cultural heritage constituted a vehicle for national unity. ``I urge you all to leverage on the festival platform in tapping and promoting the virtues of our cultural heritage, which abhors vices of violence and indolence. ``Rather our culture encourages hard work, peaceful co-existence and national integration,’’ Jonathan said. The president lauded the theme of the festival, ``Culture, Peace and National Transformation’’, saying it was geared toward the promotion of peace and national unity. According to him, culture and national transformation are veritable platforms for growing the culture and tourism industry for economic development.

Monday, 16 September 2013 00:00

D.C. Shooting Delays Reagan Airport Flights

Flights leaving Reagan National Airport have been delayed because of a shooter on the loose at the nearby U.S. Navy Yard in Washington D.C. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the halt shortly before 10 a.m. Eastern, an airport official confirmed. Flights arriving at Reagan were being allowed to land, however. So far about 30 outbound flights have been delayed, the airport said. The Navy Yard is about 5 miles from the airport and some planes pass over the site on their way in and out Reagan National. A gunman shot at least several people at the Navy Yard on Monday morning and he was still at large. Legal authorities locked down the area around the Navy Yard in an effort to corner and capture the shooter, who reportedly barricaded himself in a building. Some government helicopters have been seen in the vicinity of the Navy Yard.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

 

 

 

Monday, 16 September 2013 00:00

Ethiopian Airlines Celebrate Huge Profit

DDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopian Airlines has made a record profit, the company's chief executive officer said this week Tewolde Gebremariam partly credited the profitability of Ethiopian Airlines to Boeing's problematic 787 planes.He said the company's operating profit between July 2012 and June 2013 is 2.7 billion birr ($143,137,098) from a billion birr ($53,013,740) the previous financial year.Citing unaudited company accounts Tewolde said that the company's net profits also surged during the period to 2.03 billion birr ($107,617,892) from 734 million birr ($39,230,167) of the previous year, a 178 percent increase.Tewolde said the performance is a result of "exceptionally dedicated employees" and the Boeing 787 planes he described as super-efficient. He said the planes helped the company save on fuel costs.
In January, Dreamliner's around the world were grounded because of overheating lithium batteries. Ethiopian Airlines was the first to get the plane back in

The relative high fares in the domestic air travel in Nigeria has been attributed to high cost of operation of airlines, from the cost of fuel, cost of maintenance to agency charges, including landing and parking fees. Comparatively, the cost of air travel in Nigeria may be one of the highest in the world, as one hour flight, which averages $80 to $100 in other parts of the world, cost as much as $200 (N32, 000) or more in Nigeria. But this high price is dictated by high cost of operation by the domestic carriers.Dana Air marketing manager, Obi Mbanuzo, explained that high fares are a function of cost of operation and such cost is not even wholly within the control of the airlines.

 "A lot of factors are involved. One of them is cost of aviation fuel, which takes about 30 to 40 per cent of the operating cost of any airline. If we have a situation the cost of the operation could be brought down definitely that will impact on the fares airlines are offering to passengers; that will also encourage more people to fly. Apart from that there is this issue of maintenance. Here in Nigeria we do not have maintenance, repair overhaul facility; basically all our major maintenance, especially the heavy checks, are done overseas. The cost of maintenance impacts on the operations and the fares."

Chief Edem Duke, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, says the Federal Government is committed to building infrastructure that will enable job creation at the grassroots. Duke said this at the inauguration of a cultural industry centre in Ihievbe, Owan-East Local Government Area, Edo, on Wednesday.. The minister, represented by Mr George Ufot, the Director of Culture in the ministry, said that the cultural industry project was targeted at the grassroots to engage the teeming youths.`Today’s occasion is a testimony to the renewed efforts of the present administration under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan to transform the lives of the youth.
This transformation is by building infrastructure that will enable job creation, poverty alleviation and ultimately preservation of our rich cultural heritage.’’He said that the cultural centre was targeted at the grassroots populace, adding that the centre would serve as a capacity building and skill acquisition in creativity and artistic.`The centre is built for the repository of our cultural heritage and a one-shop for the training and production of cultural goods and services,'' he said.The minister urged the community to ensure that the centre would be maximally maintained and utilized. Also speaking, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr James Obeahon, assured that the council would manage the centre effectively.

Wednesday, 11 September 2013 00:00

Mysterious Stand-Alone Mountainous Stone

This mysterious rock is famously called Wase Rock, a naturally-occurring stand-alone mountainous stone, which towers over the plains of Wase.The rock stands tall and seems to gaze at the plains of the Southern Zone of Plateau State. The magnificent sight the rock commands can be seen and felt clearly from a distance of three to four kilometres from its actual location. It is this ability to hold any visitor spellbound, that makes this massive monument a spectacular inselberg. An inselberg, a German word which means 'Island Mountain', is defined as an isolated rock-hill that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
A close encounter with the dome shaped Wase rock reveals its stunning appearance, as well as its naked isolation; with no tourists, the white pelicans, or even the black monkeys or baboons that once prowled the area.According to Wikipedia, Wase rock achieves an incredible height of about 350 metres (1,150 ft) above the surface of neighbouring surroundings, and is one of the only five breeding places for the white pelicans in Africa. It also states that about 1.30 kilometres of land around the rock ,is protected as a bird sanctuary, and that it is visible for a radius of 40 kilometres due to its height.

Wednesday, 11 September 2013 00:00

Nigerians Will Soon Fly Low Cost Airline

Pioneer Managing Director of Arik Airline, Mr. Alex Van Elk has revealed that Nigerians will soon witness the payment of low airfares to any destination within the country as he was determined to float a profitable low cost airline in Nigeria very soon. He said there was huge potentials in Nigeria aviation industry.The Dutch born international aviator said that he was already mobilizing French investors for that purpose. Although he would not disclose the name of the new airline for now, he promised that it would become operational in the next ten months.According to him, "we have made contacts with Nigerian authorities and they are quite pleased with our plans and assured us of government support".
Elk stressed that the airline would succeed because it would be devoid of the mistakes associated with most Nigerian airlines which usually lead to their early exit.He itemized such mistakes as poor revenue accounting, acquisition of aging aircraft, lack of good reservation systems and heavy cost of overheads as well as ambitious route networks. The emerging low cost carrier he said would not venture into unprofitable routes and would be run professionally with the right caliber of staff.

Monday, 09 September 2013 00:00

Adverts Showcase Services For British Airways

The latest advert from British Airways ‘To Fly. To Serve’ campaign, was unveiled during the ‘England versus Moldova’ World Cup qualifier on ITV, on Friday 6 September.The TV advert follows a customer journey using a ‘micro to macro’ style of filming, the footage shows close up shots of the intimate details of flying, panning to wide shots of the aircraft in motion. It draws contrasts between them both, showing the care and thought that goes into every part of their journey. The end frame poignantly shows the British Airways logo being stitched into fabric, with the voiceover commenting ‘To Fly. To Serve. Today. Tomorrow.’ Abigail Comber, British Airways’ head of marketing, said: “We wanted to show travel and innovation at its best – the people behind the scenes, the attention to detail, our engineering prowess and the care and expertise to get 100,000 people in the air every day. It is beautifully crafted with a light-hearted tone and proudly features real people from around the airline.”The campaign uses TV, cinema, press, digital, outdoor media and social media, and will run until October, in two different phases. The film is directed by Martin Krejci, with cinematography from Anthony Dod Mantle, who won an Oscar for his involvement in Slumdog Millionaire. It features a vibrant soundtrack ‘Experience’ (Starkey Remix), by the acclaimed Italian composer and pianist, Ludovico Einaudi.

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