SPOTLIGHTS
- Dr Ogungbangbe, a seasoned aviation professional, to lead discussions at the LAAC conference
- The conference will focus on navigating the current economic climate and its impact on Nigerian aviation
- Industry experts and stakeholders will convene to discuss critical issues, including forex access, fuel costs, infrastructure, and regulatory constraints
- LAAC continues its commitment to promoting effective media coverage and driving positive change in the aviation industry
By Chinelo Obogo
The Chief Executive Officer of CITA Aviation Fuelling Company Limited, Dr Thomas Ogungbangbe, will chair the 28th edition of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) annual conference scheduled to hold on Friday, 26 July 2024 in Lagos.
Dr Ogungbangbe, an international energy strategist, was the General Manager, Aviation Business at MRS Oil and Gas before he was seconded to Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc as Aviation Marketing Manager for West and Central Africa.
He was the focal point of all aviation fuel-related work for MRS Group in the Lagos office and a co-founder of Aviation Air and Land Services, now Asharam Aviation, during which he was Operations and Marketing Director at different times. His experience in Sahara Group spanned a diverse portfolio of responsibilities ranging through strategic fuel procurement, market risk management and aviation insurance.
The theme of the conference is “Aviation Survivability Amidst A Challenging Macro-Economic Environment”.
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Also, former Rector of Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Capt Samuel Caulcrick, and the Second Vice President of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Dr Alex Nwuba, will be speaking at the conference, while the former Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Dr Richard Aisuebeogun, will moderate the panel session of the conference.
The theme of this year’s conference was informed by the challenging state of Nigeria’s economy, which has amplified the already existing constraints to the growth and development of Nigeria’s aviation sector in the form of poor access to forex, weakening currency, high fuel costs, maintenance costs, poor airport infrastructure, regulatory constraints, growing manpower demands, technology upgrades, and passenger comfort, among other issues that require the urgent attention of industry stakeholders.
LAAC is Nigeria’s aviation media umbrella body saddled with the responsibility of ensuring effective media coverage and practice in the aviation industry, and the LAAC Annual Conference has over the years made an unquantifiable impact on Nigeria’s aviation sector by throwing up policy, management and operational issues for public discussion. This has resulted in tremendously significant and evidential changes in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
