CHAIRMAN, Sifax Group, Dr Taiwo Afolabi, has unveiled the group’s travel agency, known as Sifax SAHCO Travels (SST), with the group becoming the first ground handling company in Nigeria to venture into travel business.
The travel agency, whose office is located inside Marriot Hotels, another subsidiary of the Sifax Group, was recently unveiled at the 14th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO), the ground handling arm of Sifax, in Lagos.
Afolabi, while commissioning the travel agency alongside the Managing Director of SAHCO, Mrs Adenike Aboderin, said the agency was part of the diversification plans of the group.
He said the travel agency was established as part of the company’s contributions towards making travels and hospitality more seamless for travellers through the creation of a well-coordinated network, starting with access to accommodation in the standard Marriot Hotel, a subsidiary of the Sifax Group, where travellers can easily obtain their travel itineraries including tickets without hassles.
According to the Chairman, the company decided to venture into the travel agency business since it falls under the hospitality services, which one way or the other has links to air travels as a package.
Speaking on the projection of the travel agency, Afolabi said in the next three years, Sifax SAHCO Travels would be the travel agency to beat.
In her remarks, the Managing Director of the travel agency, Mrs Damilola Ajala, said the travel agency has been in existence since 2019 and described the birth of the agency as one of the exploits of the chairman who, through his business acumen, has been able to successfully pioneer many business enterprises.
Acknowledging the presence of too many travel agencies offering the same services, Ajala nevertheless said the travel agency, which has been productive in the last five years, will leverage the unique selling point of the Sifax SAHCO Travels to woo air travellers to enjoy its services.
Ajala said: “We are leveraging our already existing platform, especially the Marriot Hotels which is already a big package on its own and the customer experiences. We have corporate bodies we will be collaborating with to convince them about our unique services. We are bringing our expertise on board which is going to stand us out. We intend to be one of the leading travel agencies in Nigeria.”
At SAHCO’s AGM, Afolabi reiterated the company’s commitment to constant growth, adding that despite economic hardships that confronted businesses around the world in 2023, the company was able to record a N16.5 billion revenue, representing a gross profit from N4.3 billion in 2022 to N8.2 billion in 2023.
One of the features that make SAHCO a force to reckon with amongst foreign and domestic airlines is its huge investments in the acquisition of ground handling equipment.
In this regard, Afolabi said: “We won’t relent in investing in state-of-the-art equipment to help meet our customers’ needs. That has been one of our unique selling points over the years and 2024 will not be any different.”
The privatisation of SAHCO, formerly Skypower Aviation Handling Company, a subsidiary of the now defunct Nigeria Airways in 2009, has remained one of the best transformation of a government entity to a private investment.
SAHCO, which existed though as an autonomous government ground handling company having been carved out of the former Nigeria Airways, finally became a full blown private enterprise following its handover to Sifax Group in 2009 under a privatisation arrangement.
Many stakeholders within and outside the country’s aviation sector not enthusiastic about the privatisation on the premise that similar government businesses like the now defunct Nigeria Airways that were privatised for the purpose of improved efficiency ended up becoming a total failure as such companies have often been found in the hands of wrong people.
However, the privatisation of SAHCO has become one of such arrangement that will remain as a model for setting the pace for similar future exercises in view of the way the handling company has continued to grow in leaps and bounds since it became a privately-owned company.
SAHCO, which became listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2019, has not left key players in doubt about its capacity to further reposition not only in the ground handling business both in Nigeria but outside the shores of the land.