Sirika carpets domestic airlines over Nigeria Air

Senator Hadi Sirika

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, on Thursday, stood his ground over the choice of Ethiopian Airlines as the strategic investor in the proposed national airline, Nigeria Air.

This comes even as he took a swipe at Nigerian carriers for their conspiracy over the national carrier project on the ground that the project will demarket their operations.

He spoke virtually at the Aviation Breakfast Meeting with theme: “Aviation in Nigeria: What Next?” organised by Phillips Consulting Limited (PSL) in Lagos.

Sirika maintained that the national carrier project was mooted to among others bridge the gaps existing in the sector, and tackle the failure of the indigenous airlines in the past and the “one-man-show attitude of the carriers.”

The minister who did not spare the local airlines for their hard stance against the proposed national carrier cited how his Ministry had previously held six meetings with the carriers and other stakeholders both openly and in his office on the need for them to buy shares in the new carrier that would make them shareholders, a gesture he said they rejected.

While saying he did not know what the airlines actually wanted, Sirika hinted that the creation of Nigeria Air where the government is holding five per cent was deliberate, adding that when the carrier starts, the five per cent equity would be sold to the public.

He said, “I begged the airlines to own stakes in Nigeria but they declined. They were not interested, only for them to say things that we do not understand. The airlines under the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) are scared that the new airline would lower fares and not allow a level playfield.

“Any decrease or increase in fares would have to go through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and stakeholders. These fears are unfounded. I told them this airline would not be given preferential treatment.”

Sirika asked the operators to mention one request they needed from him that had not been granted, saying, “None of them can complain that I turned down their request. We are ever ready to support Nigerian airlines to Dubai, London, the United States and so many other places.” He recalled how the government supported Air Peace over the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“They just need to organise themselves to take advantage of the burgeoning Nigerian and the African aviation market which he reiterated had remained largely untapped.

The minister equally took a swipe at Nigerian airlines that had turned aviation into a philanthropic project, offering free services rather than see airline operations purely from a business angle.”

He used the opportunity to lash at the domestic airlines for turning the aviation sector into a philanthropic project, offering free services as against running airline operations from a business angle.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE