The Nigerian Government has chosen Ethiopians Airlines as its technical partner for the national carrier project, Nigeria Air and also announced the commencement staff recruitment for its operation that is expected to be launched shortly.
The Ministry of Aviation’s memo on its Twitter handle on Friday stated that Nigeria Air requires B737 crew including captains, first officers and engineers.
The plan to give the nation a new national airline after the liquation of the former, Nigeria Airways in 2003 started in September 2015, four months after the Muhammadu Buhari administration came on board. It however took the government about seven years to get a technical investor in the airline despite several assurances.
On Friday in Abuja, the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika announced the East African airline as its preferred bidder, while also mentioning three other Nigerian investors with different equity shares.
Sirika said that Ethiopian Airlines would have 49 percent shares in the airline, while Federal Government will have five percent with the local investors – including Skyway Aviation Handling Company, MRS and Nigerian Sovereign Fund– will share the remaining 46 percent.
Sirika also stated that the airline would commence with three Boeing 737 aircraft ”very soon”, but was silent on when.
He said the choice of Ethiopian Airlines was accepted by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, having gone through the Request for Proposal under the Public Private Participation Act,.
He declared that the consortium had been subject to a due diligence process, after which the contract would be negotiated between the consortium and the government, thereby leading to a Full Business Case.
The Minister said the full business case would be expected to be approved by the Federal Executive Council [FEC], stressing that the government expected the process to take six to eight weeks.
He further said: “An interim Executive Team of highly skilled aviation experts has been working since February 2022 to set up all the necessary regulatory and industry requirements to launch the national carrier. All executives have been approved by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority [NCAA], the Air Transport Licence has been issued by NCAA, Nigeria Air (after having identified the first three aircraft) will now finalise all necessary Operation Manuals and then go through the inspection and approval process of NCAA.
“The money spent for the launch of Nigeria Air, for all the requirements to establish an AOC and be admitted starting an airline operation, is well within the five percent capital investment of the Federal Government of Nigeria, that will be overall needed to establish the national carrier initially for the AOC approval and everything else required by stringent national aviation regulations, as prescribed in the FEC approved Outline Business Case.
“This OBC is the milestone for the preferred Bidder Consortium and has been met by the submitted business plan of the preferred bidder. It is the overall share capital of around $300 million, provided by the preferred bidder that will launch Nigeria Air to its full size of 30 aircraft and international operation within the next two years”.
Sirika clarified that no further funding would be provided above the five per cent share capital on the national carrier by the Nigerian government.
The Ministry of Aviation recruitment memo reads, in part: “Nigeria Air is now recruiting qualified crew for the following positions: Experienced, and current B737 Captains; Experienced, and Current B737 First Officers; Experienced, and Current B737 Senior Cabin Crew and Cabin Crew Experienced, and Current B737 Engineers [B1/B2 preferred]”.
It said the positions are based in Abuja or Lagos and that competitive salaries are offered, and that an application portal for other open positions would be available shortly on the website: www.nigeriaair.world.
Qualified candidates are required to forward their Curriculum Vitae (CVs) to recruitment@nigeriaair.world.
Nigeria Air is the nation’s proposed national carrier which was unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show in England on 18th July 2018, three years after it was first mentioned.
The project was suspended two months after it was announced after critics raised concerns over its relevance and sustainability. The proposed airline was expected to gulp $8.8 million preliminary cost and $300 million as takeoff cost.
By Our Correspondent