New national carrier called Nigeria Air launched at Farnborough Air Show in the UK

AVIATION officials have launched a new national carrier to be known as Nigeria Air at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK following extensive negotiations with several international airlines and aircraft manufacturers.

Over the last 10 or so years, Nigerian government officials have made several attempts to launch a national carrier to replace the defunct Nigeria Airways. Founded in 1958, Nigeria Airways folded in 2003 having accumulated debts that outstripped its revenues from the mid-1980s and since then, Nigeria has been without a national carrier.

This week, however, minister of state for aviation, Hadi Sirika, revealed that the federal government had been negotiating with aircraft manufacturers and investors with a view to making at announcement at Farnborough. Mr Sirika said that the Nigerian delegation had met with the management of Airbus to negotiate the acquisition of the desired aircraft and negotiations with Boeing and other original equipment manufacturers would take place too at the show.

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s biggest airline, also confirmed that it is in discussions with the Nigerian government over the launch of the new national carrier. Gebremariam Tewolde, the company's chief executive, was scheduled to hold talks with Mr Sirika, about the proposal at the Farnborough Air Show.

Nigeria has struggled to support a viable home-grown airline for decades, with a succession of carriers collapsing or slashing routes. That has left country dependent on services provided mainly by European and Persian Gulf carriers for trips beyond the region, which in most cases are exploitative.

However, it now appears that the problem has been resolved with the launch of Nigeria Air at Farmborough by Mr Sirika. he unveiled the logo of the new airline and details of who will be its shareholders, suppliers and stakeholders are expected soon.

Earlier this year, Mr Sirika had said that the airline would launch by December but it is not yet clear if that goal remains on schedule. Also, no details of the routes the airline will ply have been announced yet but London-Lagos is almost certain to be its primary route, having established itself as one of the most lucrative in the world.

Ethiopian Air's role has not yet been revealed too but it has become Africa’s only consistently profitable carrier by turning Addis Ababa into a crossroads for travel around the continent and beyond, replicating the hub model of Persian Gulf carriers. Its network features about 70 global cities and almost 60 across Africa.

Ethiopian Air already owns stakes in Malawi Airlines and Togo-based Asky Airlines and aims to secure equity holdings in new carriers in Zambia, Chad, Mozambique and Guinea by the end of the year, while helping to manage existing operators in Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr Tewolde, said, however, he expected to face competition over the Nigerian project from Qatar Airways, which has stakes in carriers, including British Airways owner IAG  and Latam Airlines.