- We’re Close to Having a National Carrier – Sirika
The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said the Federal Government is close to unveiling a new national carrier.
Sirika, who spoke with journalists at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Thursday, said the carrier would take off before 2019.
“I will say that we are very close to having the national carrier established. Certainly, it will be within the first term of this administration,” he stated.
The Federal Executive Council had earlier this week approved the substitution of the adviser on the establishment of a national carrier, Lufthansa Consulting, with Airline Management Group, explaining that the decision was made to avoid a conflict of interest in the future since Lufthansa Consulting was a subsidiary of an airline group.
Sirika explained that part of what the Lufthansa Consulting required from the Federal Government for the national carrier was that it would not be charged any taxes, which he said was against the country’s laws.
“It was impossible for us to continue the procurement with the Lufthansa Consulting. What we did since they are many was to substitute them with another company that has no appendage with any other company that may be interested. So, more of neutral companies took over the place of Lufthansa,” he noted.
He said part of the reason the government decided to set up a national carrier was to gain from the Single African Air Transport Market recently inaugurated by the African Union.
The minister added, “At the time Nigeria was pushing for the SAATM, we had Nigeria Airways and we thought we would take advantage of it. Now, we don’t and our airlines, for one reason or another, have not grown to that capacity and this is why the government felt that we should set in motion to create a robust carrier that will take advantage of this SAATM for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
“So, I believe we are on the right course. I believe that this private sector-led and driven airline once established will become the dominant carrier in Africa, because the market is Nigeria. Its centrality to Africa, by its geography, is God-given. And with the market of 173 million people, this is a large population and Nigerians travel almost for nothing. So, if you talk of advantage, Nigeria is at a vantage position to take advantage of this SAATM.”
On the Dana Air incident in which its door reportedly fell off on landing, Sirika said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had commenced investigation and would come up with a report in a few days.
He stated, “We apologise for the mishap but I want to explain to those who are non-aviators that because of the way aircraft of that size and kind of operations are built, they are pressurised and pressurising the cabin of the aircraft will force those doors to remain closed in flight at altitude. That’s why the emergency door did not fall in the sky.
“The NCAA is investigating because it falls within their purview to investigate minor incidents of this nature. If it had been a serious accident or serious damage to the aircraft, it would have been the Accident Investigation Bureau investigating it. And I want to use this opportunity to say that what has happened, though very scary and uncomfortable, is an incident that is minor and that kind of thing will not happen in-flight at altitude as to cause an accident or serious degree incident.”
