*FG plans takeoff in June

*Operators adamant over ET’s majority stake

*ET remains silent

By Prince Okafor

Despite that the hearing on the suit against the proposed Nigeria Air will resume today at the Federal High Court in Lagos, there are concerns that the federal government is already making plans to flag off the project.
The move, according to industry stakeholders, appears a breach of court process, because it is made notwithstanding what the outcome of the hearing may be.
The suit instituted by some aggrieved Airline Operators, including Air Peace, United Nigeria, Azman, and Top Brass Airlines, had urged the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport Licence (ATL) already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA.
The operators were peeved over the emergence of Ethiopian Airlines as a major stakeholder in the carrier.
However, Vanguard gathered that whatever is the outcome of the hearing today, the Federal government has already concluded arrangements for the takeoff operation in June, 2023.
Vanguard Aviation World had reported that the court in November 2022 had ordered all parties involved to maintain status quo till January 16, a development which halted the December 2022 take-off date proposed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika.
In response to the court proceeding, the defense counsels had filed a motion asking for the case to be transferred to another jurisdiction. An affidavit in support of motion on notice sworn to by Des-Bordes Felicia, counsel to the defendants, Nigeria Air (1st defendant), Hadi Sirika (3rd defendant) and Attorney General of the Federation (4th defendant), stating that hearing of the suit in Lagos would incur additional financial burden on the defendants.
After the hearing, the court adjourned the hearing to today, February 13, 2023.

FG plans takeoff in June
Meanwhile, the Federal government has insisted that the controversial national carrier will soon commence operations and is expecting Air Operators Certificate before the end of this week
 In a chat with newsmen, Sirika, stated that the regulatory approval to get Nigeria Air flying is at its final stage.
 According to him, “Nigeria Air will soon start flying, we have got the aircrafts ready, and they are painted in the colours. We have crossed all the Ts and dotted the Is. “Currently, we are at stage five of the AOC issuance by the NCAA. Once that is done, the airline will begin to fly.
“So there are five stages, we have done stages one, two, three, four and we are now at stage five, once the AOC is given, the aircraft is ready to start to fly.
“The issuance of the AOC is in the hands of the NCAA, but I know it will be very soon, with an emphasis on soon. So as soon as we get the AOC, then we fly.”

Operators remain adamant over ET’s majority stake
Meanwhile, operators have insisted on their stance on the development.  
According to an Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, “The hearing of the Nigeria Air will be today at the federal high court. The federal government lawyers are pushing for the case to be adjourned and moved to Abuja where it will be more comfortable for them.
That I believe will take most part of the proceedings today. The minister has breached court processes with all those pronouncements and announcements he is making. This will be another issue that will be raised today.
The order of the court was for all parties to stand down all action on the proposed national carrier pending the hearing.
Also, the managing partner, Avaero Capital, Sindy Foster, stated that, “All the issues the Airlines raised were valid. Instead they were ignored for seven years plus, yet they survived the covid pandemic, they survived not being given N27 billion covid support.
“They have survived the ongoing forex crisis, aviation fuel crisis, runway shutdown for months, sunset airport extension suspension, they continue to pay charges they should not be paying and they continue to invest and grow their businesses and the outcome
“They are told they are rubbish and so therefore they are sorting out one airline, their own airline which they have partnered with foreigners to launch. What kind of insult is this?
“We heard the major discussion that aviation should not be run as a charity, it should not be. So the Ministry should not be doing charity for others, before doing charity for people at home.
“We heard the discussion about their capacity, the number of aircraft on the ground. But why are the aircraft on the ground? Can they get forex to repair them? Can they get low interest debt or investment? Has the government made Nigeria or Nigerian aviation attractive to investment?
“Do they have access to sovereign backed leasing? Where is the Nigerian MRO to stop Capital flight? Instead we have the “mother of all capital flight models” being presented as a solution!
“The minute they had a 5 percent interest in this carrier it was clear which direction this project would go and what the outcome would be. As I said they would do they wielded the 5 percent as if it was 95 percent.

“We still do not know who the shareholders are and what percentage or financial contributions they have made. We have heard valuations ranging from $300m, $350m right up to $800bn! So it is clear that all is not well with Nigeria Air.”

ET remains silent
Meanwhile, the management of Ethiopian Airlines have remained silent about the whole development despite emerging winners of the bidding process last year.
The airline has focused on other regions both in Africa, Asia amongst others on expansion of its connectivity and frequencies to remain the leading carrier in Africa.