Nigeria Air applies for its air transport licence
Nigeria Air has been administratively incorporated since July 2018. In the run-up to the launch of the future national airline, which is now scheduled for 2023, the Nigerian authorities are working on the diligence of the administrative procedures.
Nigeria Air, the future national carrier of Africa's leading economic power, has announced that it has applied to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for its Airline License (AL).
In a public notice, the budding company says the licence will allow it to operate scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo services within and outside Nigeria. "Any person or organisation with an objection to this application should make it known before the expiry of the 28-day period," the notice reads.
In a related development, it disclosed the composition of its current board of directors which comprises three members, namely Alexander Musa Adeyemi, Mohammed Shuaibu Naibi and Mohammed Rabiu Shehu.
Earlier this month, on 7 March, the Nigerian Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a tender inviting "interested private parties to submit proposals for the takeover and development of the recently launched national carrier 'Nigeria Air', in order to capitalise on the opportunities in Africa's largest market". The tender runs until 10 May 2022.
Under the shareholding configuration, the government will hold no more than 5% of the shares, 46% will be held by Nigerian financial and institutional investors while 49% will be owned by strategic partners - including an international airline - yet to be defined. Approximately $250 million will be required to launch the company, which is expected to generate 70,000 jobs in the first few years.
In July 2018, Nigeria announced with great fanfare the imminent launch of its new airline called "Nigeria Air". The name, logo, colours and even the slogan ("Bringing Nigeria closer to the world") of the future flag carrier were unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK. During the presentation, the start-up plan called for a launch fleet of five aircraft, including Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, with a target of 30 aircraft after the first five years of operations. Over the period, the carrier projected 81 routes, including 40 national and sub-regional routes and 41 international services.
In September of the same year, the Federal Executive Council decided to suspend the project before reactivating it three years later in November 2021, with the adoption of the business case. At the time, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika was expecting the project to be launched in April 2022, highlighting the imminence of the procurement phase. But according to Michael Ohiani, director general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the project will instead be launched next year shortly before the end of President Buhari's second term in office, which ends in May 2023.
