Nigeria Air aircraft is on its way to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as the Federal Government is set to fulfill its promise that the national carrier would begin operations before the end of the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, had said insisted that Nigeria Air will fly before the tenure of Buhari ends as concerns mounted that Nigeria Air would be a mirage.
Speaking in a Channels Television interview, Sirika had said, “On the question of Nigeria Air, on Friday in two days, Nigeria Air plane will land in Nigeria as part of the processes to commence operation. We will on that day unveil this aircraft, the livery and everything in Nigeria’s colours, belong to Nigeria Air and we will proceed to go and do the retrofit and bring back those airplanes.”
Sources had told our correspondent that a plane already painted in Nigeria Air colour was planning to arrive the country from Ethiopian Airlines for a proposed test-flight, as of the time Sirika granted the interview.
It is not clear whether the airline would be cleared to commence operations or demonstration flights as part of the requirement to secure the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) amidst disquiet within the industry over alleged move by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to waive some requirements to enable the take off of the airline.
Also, the order of perpetual injunction issued against the airline in the suit filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), is yet to be set aside even as the substantive motion challenging the shareholding structure is yet to be heard.
AON had written a strongly-worded letter to Buhari, on Thursday, on what it described as the illegality of the national carrier project.
Below is a video of the aircraft ahead take-off to Abuja.
