Controversy Trails Aero Contractors’ Designation As National Carrier

Controversy is trailing the choice of a national airline, as the Ministry of Aviation has denied that an existing airline has been chosen.

The minister of aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, had said early this month that a new national airline would be unveiled before the end of October this year. This has fuelled speculations of which airline will be chosen and what will be its status.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP yesterday, the special assistant on media to the aviation minister, Mr Joe Obi, said, “I am not aware of the designation of Aero as national carrier. What I know is that the new national carrier would be unveiled soon and there would be a lot of new aircraft coming into the country as well.”
There has been speculationthat Aero Contractors has been chosen as the new national airline. The federal government owns 60 per cent of Aero Contractors through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and even appointed a new managing director for it.

On whether the new national carrier is the “Nigeria One Airline” being expected by Nigerians, Obi said, “I don’t know the name it will bear, but I know it will be unveiled soon.”

When contacted, the media consultant to Aero Contractors, Simon Tumba, said the management of Aero had not discussed the issue with him and that he was not in a position to comment on it.

This will not be the first time speculation has centred on an indigenous airline being considered as the national airline. Last year, there were speculations that Arik Air was going to be named as the national airline.

However, assistant general secretary, Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), Comrade OlayinkaAbioye, said the government has the right to pick either Aero Contractors or Arik Air as the national airline, but added that before doing so government should first settle the outstanding benefits of Nigeria Airways staff.
He said the government should not be in a hurry to unveil the new national airline until everything necessary to ensure its success has been put in place. Of concern to him is the huge debt profile of most indigenous airlines which, he said, government should consider first before designating any airline as the national carrier.
But a former managing director of the defunct Nigeria Airways, Captain Mohammed Joji, told LEADERSHIP that the country does not need a national carrier but a flag carrier.
He said, “Nobody should take taxpayers’ money and set up an airline. If you want to set up an airline, you go to the banks and raise a loan for it. Local airlines should be supported to go into alliance with international airlines. There are 24 airlines flying out this country and we cannot compete with a single one of them.”
culled from Leadership