Aviation minister says Nigeria Air will be launched before Buhari hands over to Tinubu

AVIATION minister Hadi Sirika has expressed confidence that the planned new national carrier Nigeria Air will get going before the change of administrations due to take place later this month on May 29.

About five years ago, Mr Sirika first announced plans for the airline at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK on July 18 2018. However, the project was suspended two months after it was announced amid concerns over its relevance and sustainability after it emerged that the airline would cost $8.8m in preliminary expenditure and $300m as take-off cost.

In April last year, former Virgin Nigeria Airways boss Captain Dapo Olumide was named as the interim managing director of Nigeria Air as plans to float the new airline with Qatar Airways as a major stakeholder were announced. Then in June, the airline was issued with its operating license after applying to register as an aviation business in Nigeria.

Mr Sirika said: “I think three weeks is a lot of time. By the special grace of God it will fly and don’t forget we didn’t start today. We started this in 2015.

“Operation of local and international flights will commence soon. Before the end of this administration, before May 29, we will fly.”

He added that negotiation meetings with the Ethiopian Airlines and the Federal Government of Nigeria are ongoing. While recounting some of the successes achieved so far at the aviation ministry, the minister said more than 50% of the airlines in the country today were licensed under the Buhari-led administration.

Mr Sirika said: “Rano Air, Uza Air, all of them. Even Air Peace, which is the biggest airline, when we came in 2015 how many airlines did they have? The growth and robustness of Air Peace is because we gave them the enabling environment to do it, so, we didn’t stop anybody from doing it.”

He added that based on this, the Buhari administration will give Nigeria the airline it deserves for the market, for the population, for the centrality and for everything. Mr Sirika assured Nigerians that the indigenous airline will be established and the incumbent government has no choice but to run with it.

“The reason is 95% is not government owned but owned by entrepreneurs. So the coming of the next government which is the All Progressives Congress, won’t throw the investment away because it’s not their government, so it will continue,” Mr Sirika added.