The much-talked-about national carrier, Nigeria Air, may now see the light of the day in the second quarter of this year, as a request for proposal will go public this week.
It was gathered that the shift in the take-off date, earlier proposed for the first quarter, was due to delays in mandatory approvals that have now been granted for the commencement of the bidding phase.
Though the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has hinted on speedy wrap up ahead of the take-off next month, findings from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), however, showed that the request for the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and Air Transport Licence (ATL) has not been provided.
The national carrier is to replace the defunct Nigeria Airways that ceased operations in 2003. The replacement was designed as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project, with the Federal Government owning a five per cent stake.
READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia Lifts Travel Ban On Nigeria, Others
In 2018, the national carrier and its christening in London set the minister on a collision course with the Nigerian public. Harsh criticism of alleged prodigal roll-out at the Farnborough Airshow in London was instrumental to ‘temporary’ suspension of the launch, earlier scheduled for December 24, 2018.
Findings then showed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) did not also warm up to the proposed airline because it had no provision in the 2018 appropriation law. But since then to date, the project has been rattling-up votes, with about seven shifts in take-off date.
The project has racked up a total of N14.65 billion in appropriation votes between 2019 and 2022. About 40 per cent of the sum (N6.25 billion) has been channelled to working capital, consultancy and transaction advisers’ fees.
But Sirika, at the weekend, confirmed the commencement for the issuance of requests for proposal to intending investors on March 8, 2022, coupled with plans to secure the AOC, constitution of a nine-man board to manage the carrier temporarily, among others.
He reaffirmed that the Federal Government would own five per cent stake of the airline while general public will own 46 per cent and the international partners airlines take 49 per cent shares.
