Plane for Nigeria Air will arrive the country on Friday ahead of commencement of operations, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has confirmed.
In an exclusive interview with Channels Television, the minister said that a Nigeria Air aircraft will land in the country in two days as part of processes to commence operations and unveiling of the delivery process.
He promised that the aircraft will be unveiled in Nigeria’s colors in fulfillment of all the promises made by the administration in the aviation sector.
He, however, noted that the only incomplete item is the aerotropolis, which is the airport city and is 60 percent complete.
According to him, the ground work has been completed, and are looking to conclude work on the airport city by the next administration.
Sirika had at an aviation stakeholder’s forum in Abuja in March said that Nigeria Air will commence full operations before the end of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Responding to a question on when exactly Nigeria Air will commence operations, the minister had said, “Before the end of this administration, before May 29th, we will fly.”
He added that the Federal Government is leaving the aviation sector better than it met it having achieved over 90% of the aviation sector road map.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant, Media, and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, says Nigeria Air would be a game-changer and appreciated by Nigerians.
While praising Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika for his doggedness in ensuring the airline becomes a reality, he said many Nigerians will benefit from the project.
“The minister has been bashed unfairly all over the place. He has been doing this, all of the commitment to put this airline in place but simply obstacles have been put on his part every inch of the way, until just a week or two ago when the thing was cleared for its resumption,” he said.
“I don’t blame him. He wants to make history, the minister wants to push for a new airline. So, it is honourable that he wants to kickstart it Friday, which is 24 hours from now. It would be to the relief of Nigerians, certainly, it is something that is going to be a game-changer, especially for international travel.”
Garba admitted that the project had been impeded by several challenges.
“The Nigerian process has been up for a very long time. In all eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, there is no policy memo on anything that has done the zigzag that Nigerian Air has done,” the presidential aide said.
“At least seven times, it came before the Federal Executive Council before finally it was let go.
“Just when everything was set and for the airline to start, domestic Nigerian airline operators went to court and they got an injunction that says that Nigeria Air must not fly. This held up everything until barely a week or two ago.”
According to him, the collaboration with Ethiopian Airways is in the best interest of the country.
He said, “This is entirely different because past attempts have been made to use resources from the treasury to run a business.
“Government is simply a bad manager of businesses. We would continue to fail so long as these things are run by the government.
“This realization is simply the fact that the government of Nigeria would be a minority shareholder in this enterprise, it is going to be essentially business run and that would mean that it would succeed,” he said.
