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From Uche Usim, Abuja and Chinelo Obogo
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has been criticised by various industry stakeholders over his plans to dedicate the old international wings of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and Murtala Muhammed International Airport for the operations of Nigeria Air, the new national carrier.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that the transaction advisers appointed by the Ministry of Aviation and approved by the Federal Executive Council to set up a carrier have already put plans in motion to dedicate the old international wings to Nigeria Air.
But experts have described the plan as a veiled plot to gradually strangle local carriers by giving competitive advantage to the new airline to the detriment of other domestic airlines and the flying public.
According to them, it is reminiscent of the flawed head-start given to Virgin Nigeria that eventually exposed it to sabotage, leading to its early demise.
Commenting on the development to Daily Sun, the head of research, Zenith Travels, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo, said: “You may pretend to forget history, but history has a way of coming after you. I think it was one of the requests the Virgin Group put in a clause for Virgin Nigeria and, thereafter, after the reign of President (Olusegun) Obasanjo, the airlines came together and pressured the government and asked that all stakeholders be on a level playing field and everyone should move back to the local airport.
“Arik was able to push to join Virgin then but everybody was pushed back to the local airport to give everybody a level playing field. If we also want to start with that, what happens when a new government comes in 2023 and then we go back and start the same thing all over again? We should learn our lessons. All other airlines are also Nigerian flag carriers and a level playing field must be given to all. Nobody should be given undue advantage,” Ohunayo said.
In his view, Roland Iyayi, managing director, Topbrass Aviation, and former managing director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said it was unconscionable to attempt to give preferential treatment to Nigeria Air by dedicating terminals to it, a move he described as a slow but steady death knell on other local airlines.
“Once there is a competitive advantage, you create a distortion in the market and that is destructive for businesses. Airline companies will be disadvantaged for no fault of theirs. This move is not in their interest nor in the interest of the economy. It’ll make air travel expensive eventually because it’ll kill competitors. Perhaps one or two domestic airlines may manage to survive and, before you know it, they form a cartel with Nigeria Air and rip off air travellers.
“The National Assembly should know this and immediately vote against creating an unlevel playing field. Air Peace and others begged to be given space to develop their own terminals with their own money but the Federal Government refused. Airlines own terminals all over the world but it’s either they develop it themselves or it’s given to 100% government-owned airlines. But here, we are told Nigeria Air is largely owned by private investors and then the government. Why take a terminal built with taxpayers’ money to give to a private sector investment? Where is this done? Giving a government investment to a private player via the backdoor? The National Assembly should disallow this,’’ he told Daily Sun.
However, a former state secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Olayinka Abioye, stated that the Federal Government could choose to site the new carrier wherever they please because it belonged to Nigerians.
He said there are already unfair advantages being enjoyed by some airlines over others, therefore, favouritism will continue until it goes away on its own.
“I have no objections whatsoever, if the Federal Government, on behalf of the Nigerian people, chooses to allocate the old terminal to the incoming airline, it is a national airline belonging to the Nigerian people, like the same terminal. There are already unfair advantages being enjoyed by some airlines over others. Recall the intervention funds disbursed months ago? Who got the highest? Who got the least? Which airlines enjoy our BASA routes at the moment? So, the issue of favouritism will continue until it goes away on its own.
“Government has the authority to so decide on our behalf how certain government institutions shall be managed. Above all, as we have an ongoing road map to reshape the entire industry, the concerned authorities shall fix the space problem, which, ultimately, will allow airlines maneuvre freely, as standards provide,” he said.
Reliable industry sources said Nigeria Air would most likely commence operations on July 1, 2022, and the first of the three aircraft to be got on wet lease would arrive Nigeria in June, while it would likely be granted its air operator’s certificate before June.
Recruitment into senior management positions have already begun and former chief executive officer of Virgin Nigeria, Dapo Olumide, will head the airline. Also, the chief operating officer has been recruited, while Abuja has been chosen as its operational control centre and headquarters.
The Federal Government has set May 10, 2022, as the last day of the submission of bids. It will still retained 5 per cent stake in the airline, while 95 per cent would be reserved for consortiums of local and foreign investors. Forty-nine per cent stake would go to foreign partners, while the remaining 46 per cent would be for indigenous private investors.
