Nigeria Air Won’t Be Advantageous To Nigerians

The proposed Nigeria Air, according to Captain Roland Iyayi, a former director general of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), would not be advantageous to the Nigerian people.

Additionally, he said that Ethiopian Airlines’ acquisition of a majority share in Nigeria Air was not transparent and would result in unfair competition in the nation’s airspace market.

This statement was made by Captain Roland Iyayi in an AriseTV interview on Wednesday.

An interim injunction prohibiting the Nigerian government from establishing its intended national airline, Nigeria Air, was previously issued by the Lagos Federal High Court.

He said: “The dealings are not entirely transparent. We have issues with that; we also find out, going through all the documents provided, that there are undue privileges given to this new carrier which domestic operators aren’t enjoying. For instance, the government proposes a 15-year tax moratorium for the national carrier. Again let us be very clear, this is not a national carrier in the context in which it is being presented. This is a flag carrier. This is because if you are bringing strategic investors at 49% and it has other institutional investors, one of which is 60% owned by a foreign entity. In the long term, what you are putting together is a foreign airline being allowed to operate in the Nigerian space in variant with Article 7. This is not in the interest of the Nigerian public.

“Ultimately, the Nigerian public won’t benefit from Nigeria Air. There will be unfair competition if we allow a foreign carrier to come in with special privileges other carriers aren’t getting.”

He explained that Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON went to court because the government had already chosen Ethiopian Airlines before the process even began.

In addition, he claimed that Ethiopian Airlines had listed Nigeria Air as one of its subsidiaries on its website.

“I don’t think Nigeria wants a national carrier that is a subsidiary of another country. Nigerians are looking for a national carrier freely owned by Nigerians.

“Unfair competitions, contrived outcomes, lack of transparency will result in a distorted market which at the end of the day will decimate the domestic market detrimental to Nigerians,” he added.

The nation’s planned national carrier, Nigeria Air, was revealed on July 18, 2018, at the Farnborough Air Show in England.

The concept of a national airline was floated several years after Nigeria Airways, the country’s airline, failed due to management corruption and corruption.