The Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Akin Olateru, has called for effective collaboration between air transport and the tourism industry.
He declared that the two sectors needed each other to thrive and developed the nation’s economy.
Olateru said this statement while presenting a paper: ‘Best practices in civil aircraft accident prevention and investigation for sustainable development of the transportation and tourism industry’, at the 2020 National Tourism and Transportation Summit and Expo 2020.
A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, AIB, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, said that Olateru was represented at the occasion by the Director of Operations, Capt Dayyabu Danraka.
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Olateru explained that the Nigerian aviation industry contributed at least $1.7bn and created 341,000 direct jobs to the country’s Gross Domestic Product before the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled the world’s economy.
According to him, the $1.7bn and 241,000 figures were presented by the International Air Transport Association recently.
Olateru described air accident and serious incident investigation and timely release of safety reports as a catalyst for sustainable development in the air transportation and tourism industry in the country.
He insisted that air transport was part of a broader travel and tourism sector, widely recognised as the world’s largest industry.
