The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, unveiled an aircraft supposedly belonging to Nigeria Air amidst pomp last Friday, but a week after, the national carrier is yet to fly. Daily Trust on Sunday reports that tongues are wagging over what has become of the aircraft on display.
Where is Nigeria Air? This is a question on the lips of many Nigerians. Some have asked for the website of the new airline for flight bookings which are presently non-existent. But a check on the Ethiopian Airlines’ aircraft ET-APL which was unveiled on Friday last week showed the aircraft has returned to Ethiopian Airlines’ service.
On Thursday, June 1st, 2023 when our correspondent checked, the aircraft operated Addis-Ababa-Mogadishu and Mogadishu-Addis-Ababa flights. As the flight radar showed, the aircraft – a Boeing 737-860 – actually returned to ET service on May 31st, 2023; four days after the aircraft returned from Abuja. The aircraft must have been on the ground for four days to undergo the necessary repainting and checks prior to returning it to service after Friday’s reception which was also welcome with a ceremonial water salute by officials of the Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-fighting Service unit of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The unveiling was the last major engagement carried out by the former minister before his exit and it was to him a fulfillment and a delivery of the core component of Muhammadu Buhari’s Aviation roadmap.
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Sirika had promised two days before the unveiling that the Nigeria Airplane would arrive on Friday when criticisms were high about his inability to deliver on the national carrier.
And as he promised, the aircraft arrived amidst fanfare at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
But did Nigeria Air actually launch?
Shortly after the minister’s statement that the airplane would arrive on Friday, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) raised an alarm over an alleged move by the minister to arm-twist the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to waiver key regulatory requirements and grant AOC to Nigeria Air.
Read more: https://dailytrust.com/dust-over-disappearance-of-nigeria-air-after-launch/
