An official with a Nigerian airline has advised the government to look beyond the airlines for a lasting solution to the spate of air crashes in the country and focus on improving airport safety in Nigeria.

 

"We need to have the right modern equipment maintained in good condition and operated by skilled manpower," said Kehinde Ogunyale, southern Africa regional director of the Bellview Airlines, on Friday.

 

The regional director gave the advice at the launching ceremony of Bellview's inaugural flight between Johannesburg and Freetown via Lagos on Friday.

 

"Up-to-date aviation infrastructure and an enabling regulatory environment will help raise air safety standard in Nigeria," he said, adding that air travel still remains the safest mode of transportation in spite of the several air disasters in Nigeria in the past year.

 

Last Sunday, a Boeing 737 plane of the ADC Airlines crashed in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, just after takeoff, killing 96 people on board.

 

With the commencement of the flight between Johannesburg and Freetown, he said, Bellview now operates twice-weekly flights on Mondays and Thursdays between Johannesburg and Freetown with two stopovers in Douala and Lagos.

 

Other new routes Bellview planned include Kinshasa and Libreville, Ogunyale said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2006)