Federal government promises that national carrier Nigeria Air will get going by April

PROPOSED national airline Nigeria Air is now planned to get going in April this year after the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) said all the building blocks required to launch the project are now in place.

In July 2018 at the Farnborough Air Show in Kent in the UK, aviation minister Hadi Sirika, revealed plans to float a new national carrier called Nigeria Air. Pointing out that the airline was due take off in December 2018, Mr Sirika said that following extensive negotiations with several international airlines and aircraft manufacturers, it would fly to 80 different destination and have a fleet of 30 aircraft.

However, in September 2018, the government announced that the plans were being put on hold because of objections from the economic management team (EMT) chaired by vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Apparently the EMT recommended that the Nigerian government should not set up a national carrier with public funds, unless a budget had been approved for the project, which was accepted by the cabinet and approved by the National Assembly.

Since then, the federal government has been struggling to get the project going, seeking to woo private investors and international airlines to take out a stake in the venture. Yesterday, ICRC acting director-general, Michael Ohiani, promised that his agency was working round the clock to get the airline operational.

He confirmed that the ICTC was collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Aviation and this would not be another failed promise. Although Mr Ohiani did not give details, he said a presidential approval for the project had been obtained and the process would get to the next stage now.

Mr Ohiani  said: “We will get the concessionaire and once we have gotten that, which is a major step, operations will follow. I can assure you that before the end of this administration, Air Nigeria will start flying.”

In addition, he also revealed that there were plans for the establishment of cargo agro airports in Nigeria's six geo-political zones. In November 2021, Mr Sirika said that under that scheme, 70,000 jobs would be created and majority shares of 49% in the venture will be owned by equity partners.