The Federal Government has insisted it would go ahead with Nigeria Air Limited in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines as the major investor with 49 percent shares.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this assertion during an interactive session with Senate Committee on Aviation, heads of aviation agencies and the Airlines Operators of Nigeria.
He wondered why members of the AON were vehemently opposed to the idea of a national carrier when they were adequately carried along when the plan started seven years ago.
The Minister insisted that the essence of having a national carrier was to improve services and make the industry affordable to all Nigerians.
Sirika said: “Well, as to what is the status of Nigeria Air? Nigeria Air is a company that is registered and known to the laws of Nigeria which will become by God’s grace the much-awaited airline.
“It is going to happen by the grace of God between now and December of this year. It will fly and also compete fairly with all of those existing airlines.
“The intent is not to kill any business. The intent is to help to promote all businesses to be able to provide the needed service and employ our people.
The Vice President of AON, who is also the Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues during the session, said Ethiopian Airlines was out to enter into the Nigerian aviation market and reduce its prices to the detriment of local airline operators over a period of six months and take over 60 percent of the market share.
Onyema said: “It is our belief that the six months period would lead to the liquidations of several domestic carriers. The Ethiopian Airlines/Nigeria Airlines Limited partnership may appear good initially but in the long run, it would have ripple effects on the local airlines whose market would have been decimated.
“In no distant time, the local airlines would be out of the market leaving only Ethiopian Airlines and a few others flying the Nigerian space.
“This would skyrocket the prices of flights because the demand would be higher than supply.
“Already, domestic airlines in Nigeria had ordered over 40 brand new aircraft. The effect of this is that all the Nigerian banks that had extended credits to the airlines would also be in trouble.
“Ethiopian Airlines wanted to be the National Flag Carrier while we have domestic airlines in Nigeria that a well equipped to fly international routes.
“Let us consider our own first because charity begins at home. Anything that would stand the test of time must start from home.
“Ethiopia does not have any agenda to grow Nigeria. They want to practise aviation colonisation in Africa.
“If we allow them to come in on a silver platter, how do we now save our local airlines after they had been decimated by an airline owned 100 percent by the Ethiopian government?
“It is a deliberate policy of the Ethiopian government to make the proposal because Aviation is their major export.“
