Nigerian Air to Commence Before December – Aviation Minister
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has given assurances that the nation’s national carrier, Nigerian Air will commence operations before December, 2022.
Sirika gave the assurance on Thursday, while meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, at the instance of the House committee on Aviation which wanted to know the status of the national carrier.
The Minister disclosed that 20 aircraft have been ordered for training purposes, and that nine have been delivered.
However, Gbajabiamila expressed concerns over the project, saying that some issues needed clarification.
“The issue of the national carrier is very important. It is something we are all paying attention to. We just want to make sure we get it right. There have been some misgivings. Some issues have been raised. But there are issues that need clarifications”, he said.
Sirika stated that President Muhammadu Buhari at the just concluded ministers’ retreat gave a marching order to ensure that the goal was achieved.
“When I came in as a minister, we didn’t arrogate to ourselves knowledge and wisdom. We believe in the stakeholders on whose behalf we are servicing…
“We set out to concession our airports not to privatize but to concession the airports. We also set out to put a proper airline the size, capacity, dynamics and the population and the markets and the complexity of the nation, Nigeria and also set out a leasing company and develop the cargo terminals and so on.
“The national carrier is in the works and we have advanced significantly and just yesterday, Mr. President in concluding the retreat has directed that this airline must work between now and December. And it will work by God’s grace. We have ordered for 20 brand new training aircraft that uses petrol. So far nine has been delivered. All these in the national carrier efforts”, he said.
In his contribution, Captain Roland Iyayi who spoke for the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said some domestic issues had to be sorted out.
“Many issues have not been addressed by this proposition. These issues must be addressed to be of benefit to Nigerians. There is need to have a structure that takes the interest of the country and domestic airlines. Domestic airlines can be equipped to become national carriers.
“The operations of the Nigerian Air could stifle domestic operators if not properly managed”, he said.
Similarly, the Vice President of AON, Allen Onyema asked that domestic airlines have to be carried along. “The manner Ethiopia is coming into the arrangement for Nigeria Air could cause existential problems for indigenous airlines. There is need to carry domestic airlines along in the process. Let us come together as it is not too late to do so”, he noted.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Committee, Nnolim Nnaji, however expressed concern over allowing another country’s airline to own major stake in the country’s national carrier, saying it may be counter productive.