Nigeria Air Kicks-Off In 8 Weeks –Aviation Minister
The minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has said all preparations for the establishment of the national carrier, Nigeria Air, have been concluded and the airline will kick-off in six to eight weeks.
The minister stated that the airline has commenced recruitment of pilots, cabin crew and the aircraft would be coming into the country in a week’s time.
The minister, who stated this at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the full business case for the establishment of the airline would be expected to be approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to him, “After a careful, detailed and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) governed selection process, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) consortium has been selected as preferred bidder, offering an owner consortium of three Nigerian investors MRS, SAHCO and the Nigerian Sovereign Fund (46 per cent) FGN owning five per cent and ET 49 per cent.
“The consortium has been subject to a due diligence process, after which the contract will be negotiated between the consortium and the FGN, leading to a Full Business Case, which will be expected to be approved Federal Executive Council (FEC).
We expect this process to take 6-8 weeks.”
