Nigeria will begin the operation of a new national air carrier in the first quarter of 2022, according to Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation.
Mr Sirika made the remarks to journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, which was presided over by Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
“In this 2021, we will try to do all the needful and probably we intend to start operations somewhere around first quarter 2022,” he said.
The advent of COVID-19, he said, delayed the completion of plans as well as the start of the programme, which the federal government remains committed to.
In two weeks, he said, the aviation ministry will send a proposal to the council.
Mr Sirika stated that the national carrier will begin operations this year as an economic necessity for the country due to the country’s population size, strategic geographic position, and other natural factors.
“It is still in top gear, we are coming back to Council, hopefully within the next two weeks, to present the memo on the national carrier,” he said.
“We went to Council to approve the outline business case for the carrier and then the Council raised some questions and asked us to go and file the memo again and bring it back.
“So, once it comes back and the outline business case is approved by Council, then, of course, we will now go to the full business case, which is now going to the market and then establishing the national carrier.
“It was our intention to have a national carrier running in 2021, which is this year. Unfortunately due to COVID, which took the greater part of last year, since March last year, activities are almost impossible.
“Of course, for obvious reasons, we now have access to equipment, that they will come faster to us, deliveries of the aircraft will be faster, perhaps even the rates might be cheaper and so on, and so forth.”
