The Federal Government has suspended the Nigeria Air project of the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as part of its current efforts to boost the performance of the aviation sector and make it globally competitive.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barrister Festus Keyamo, announced the suspension of the national carrier project on Thursday during a tour of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos..
According to him, the suspension of the Nigeria Air project and the airports’ concession is now halted until further notice.
This is even as he explained that the old terminal of the international airport in Lagos would be shut on October 1 for total repair and directed foreign airlines to relocate to the new terminal.
It would be recalled that a few days before the end of the tenure of former President, the Federal Government concessioned the MMIA and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja to the Corporacion American Airport Consortium as the preferred bidder.
The consortium comprises the Corporation American Airports, Mota Engil Africa, and Mota Engil Nigeria and the government then asked to make upfront payments of $8.5 million.
Similarly, the Buhari administration hurriedly launched the Nigeria Air with the former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, announcing the formal take off of the national carrier barely three days to the end of Buhari’s tenure on May 29, 2023.
However, industry experts quickly discovered that the plane brought in for the unveiling of the Nigeria Air was a rented Ethiopia Airlines aircraft.
Many industry takeholders criticized the government for not being transparent with the Nigeria Air project, especially because it didn’t obtain the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), which is a global requirement that must be met before any airline can commence commercial operations.
