Nigeria Air, a national carrier, has been launched by the Federal Government. On Friday, the ceremony was done at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
Nigeria Air’s fleet is planned to grow to thirty aircraft during the following five years. Only one plane, however, has arrived.
Senator Hadi Sirika argues that the national carrier will be led by the private sector, with the federal government owning only 5% of the company and private shareholders owning the remaining 95%.
Ethiopian Airlines owns 49 percent of the new airline.
Meanwhile, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) had faulted plans by the outgoing Sirika to launch the operations of Nigeria Air despite a restraining court order on the project.
AON lawyers wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to stop the minister.
However, Sirika insists that he has not violated the court order. According to him, an opportunity was given to domestic airlines to participate in the bidding process for the ownership of the national carrier but none of them met the standard.
Although Sirika had previously said Nigeria Air would commence operation on May 29, 2023, he told journalists that it will commence operation when a second aircraft arrives. But, he did not state the exact date the second aircraft would arrive.
He also said an application has been made to the Civil Aviation Authority for a grant of an Air Transport License for Nigeria Air Limited to operate scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo services within the airport.
The Nigeria Air comes 20 years after the Nigeria Airways, Nigeria’s former national carrier stopped operating.
But the minister has assured that the airline would be sustained.
Meanwhile, the management of Ethiopian Airlines has said that it is targeting an investment base of about $1bn for Nigeria Air.
The Chief Commercial Officer of the airline Lemma Gudeta while speaking to journalists assured Nigerians of efficiency in service delivery when Nigeria Air commences operation.