ABUJA - The Chief Operating Officer of Virgin Nigeria Airline, Dr Yomi Osindero, has attributed unfavourable environment to the slow growth in the nation’s aviation sector.

Osindero, who said this at the 2nd Annual Banking and Finance Conference, said high cost of operations, low operational hours and lack of skilled hands were part of the problems.

He said there was a decline in the number of fresh pilots in the industry, adding that the average age of pilots now stood at 45 years.

“ Most Nigerian pilots have left for the gulf and Asia and fresh ones have not been coming out of the school, ” he said.

Osindero said airlines in the country operated only six hours every day, instead of the 13 hours flight operation obtained in other parts of the world.

“You cannot fly in the night because of the poor infrastructure at the airports, especially the lighting system,” he said.

Osindero said more investors in the aviation sector would come into the country with better airport infrastructure.

Similarly, Zubairu Yakubu, the Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), decried the low participation of the private sector in the development of the waterways in Nigeria.

He said increased commitment to the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement would complement the efforts in revitalising the nation’s waterways.

Yakubu called for a continuous collaboration between the banking, other financial institutions and the business community to find lasting solutions to the problems facing the maritime business.

The NIWA chief executive also urged banks to set up maritime desks that would focus on building partnerships with other stakeholders in the maritime sector.