N47bn Air Nigeria Project: Stakeholders knock FG over failure to commence operation
…Sceptical of sustainability of project
…Fault FG’s approval of N45.3bn to NAMA
…Call for commercialisation of NAMA, conversion of others
By Seun Ibiyemi
There are indications that Nigeria’s national airline (Air Nigeria), will not begin operations this year as promised, even after it’s failure to begin operations in April 2022 as stated by the Federal Government.
This, experts have said, despite that the paperwork for a new government-backed airline may have been concluded.
The national carrier, which means a country’s national airline, locally registered under a given statute and enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.
After a series of grapevine confirmations and denials, Ethiopian Airline was announced the preferred bidder for the Nigeria Air Project with 49% stake while it is joined with three Nigerian investors MRS, Skyway Aviation Handling Company(SAHCO) and the Nigerian Sovereign Fund (46%), with the Federal Government of Nigeria owning 5%.
While the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, is working to ensure that a new national carrier is reborn before the end of the year, stakeholders and industry experts familiar with the project have said it may not see the light of day, at least not under the Buhari-led administration.
Some experts and stakeholders have questioned the timing and need for a national carrier, tagging it as unnecessary.
Speaking with Nigerian NewsDirect exclusively in a telephone chat on commencement of Air Nigeria, Aviation expert and CEO of Centurion Aviation Safety and Security Konsult, John Ojikutu, said “there is something that is wrong with the whole thing, whether it will commence this year October.
“As far as I’m concerned, right from the time they started it this year, I knew it’s a dead issue. Like I always say, everything like that in this country is always coming in election year.
“And when they come in election year like that, we did the same to Virgin Nigeria, when the other government left and the new one came, didn’t it die?.
“This same Air Nigeria, didn’t they say same thing in 2019; they said we are going to do it, and they were asking for N350 million from the Federal Executive Council; it was turned down, they didn’t start it.
“So, why are you thinking about doing everything in this election year? There are so many airlines that have collected certificates and they didn’t move beyond that and that is not the first time; Is it because it’s government? Well, it’s not national carrier, it’s a government carrier.
“You want to set up national carrier without everybody involved, a national carrier, we agreed between me and him. I said take 10 per cent you (federal Government) and the states and he agreed, foreign airline, they should not take more than 40 per cent – between 30 and 40 -, then call credible Nigerians of credible airlines, let them buy about 25 or 30 per cent You sell the remaining percentage to the Nigerian public and he (Minister) agreed and he said he was going to send a recommendation to some of these things to the consultant advisor.
“But the unfortunate thing is political leaders in such position, they get carried away by other people with other interest other than the national interest; they get carried away by individual interests other than the national interest for everybody to have a hand in national carrier.
“I said, if you cannot do it that way, convert Arik and Aero to national carriers, find out their deficits and pay them off.
“Now, they went and brought Ethiopian Airline, they’re giving Ethiopian Airline so many leverage in this country.
“There are some people behind all these nonsense. How many airlines has five destinations? I mean it’s nonsense.
“I don’t have any confidence in everything that they packaged together. This year, we are talking about University of Aviation in an election year. I don’t believe.”
On the recent approval of N45billion for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for the update of its facilities, he queried “Do they have that money to give to them? I was a member of the implementation committee or radar save tower. I was a member, $56 billion was what they spent on that track where was this contract from 2007.
“Why is it that all these things are coming in election year?
“I have told them, concession all the airports, concession all the non aeronautical determinate building (determinate buildings are so many things that has nothing to do with an efficiency).
“Turn NAMA to a commercial company that will be making money, I am telling you NAMA does not make money at all.
“They should commercialise NAMA, and make more money, hand over the aeronautical services in FAAN (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) to NAMA. Anyone of them who has to do a project like they are saying now, the money should not come from government.
“What government should give them is a recovery fund. If you need to do a job for N60 billion and you have N20 billion with you, you can ask government for N40 billion and put a programme of refund – how you are going to pay that money back to government.
“You cannot be making money and be going to government to collect money, it is not done anywhere in a commercial system. You are making money; there must be a reason for you to make money
“If you see South Africa, you will be surprised the amount of money they make. They come out with their statement of account every year and they show their profit, the same things should apply here.
“Do you know how much money NAMA is making? No! And they are making money, government is giving them more money.
“People are making less money into the purse of the government. If they are not making money, merge them, find a way to merge them with others. Commercialise NAMA, give concession of the non-aeronautical lines of FAAN, give them out, take the aeronautical, give it to NAMA, and commercialise it. Make FAAN a holding company of all the airports and that is all.
“The ones that are not viable, match them with the ones that are viable and concession them out. I have said if you are going to concession Lagos airport, it must go with at least four non-viable ones, Abuja four Non-viable ones, Portharcout too. They must go with other airports, that is the only way we can save ourselves from this.
“Commercialise NAMA, hand over the aeronautical side to FAAN. Most of the aeronautical services that are in some airport are joint users with the military, so you cannot give those ones out to anybody, you cannot concession them out,” he said.
Also in a chat, Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo said: “the Federal Government have given multiple false start up date of this airline and we have two of such dates this year that has failed.
“Of all the seven airlines in Africa that Ethiopian Airlines has shares, only ASKY operates beyond the domestic route; the remaining (Chad, Mozambique, Zambia, Congo, Guinea and Malawi are glorified Local carriers). ASKY has 12 aircrafts in 12 years.
“Part 9 of the Air Operator Certification and Administration 9.2.3.2 states that a new start up airline must have a minimum of three aircrafts, must be Nigerian registered; yet we are told they are going to wet-lease, later damp-lease aircrafts to start.”
“So, why breech the ACT. From incubation what happens later? The playing field is not leveled, abinitio.
“They announced yet leased aircraft and investment from the sovereign wealth fund which increase govt exposure above 5 per cent. it was changed to damp-lease and advert placed for Nigerians to apply while the SWF was withdrawn from the list of investors quickly.
“Virgin Nigeria was stopped from operating into US because of 49% ownership by Virgin Atlantic. Hope this will not play out again for some countries?
“Virgin Atlantic offered 10 per cent shares to Nigerians as reciprocity for the investment in Virgin Nigeria, what is ET offering Nigerians and shares in Ethiopia Airlines as reciprocity?
“Why did ET Airlines, Eygpt Air, and two local airlines and other investors bid for the Ghanaian national carrier and only ET bidded for Nigeria, despite the huge market and potentials?
“Why did the Ghanaian government throw all their bids out and picked the local airline, Ashanti Airline, as the core investor for their carrier?”, he queried.
