The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the
appointment of Lufthansa, the German carrier, and five other firms as advisers
for the setup of Nigeria’s planned national carrier.
According to Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, the
appointed advisers will help Nigeria set up a national airline and develop its
aviation infrastructure to create a hub for West Africa.
Reuters quoted Sirika as saying a group of six firms
including German carrier Lufthansa would advise the government on setting
up an airline, an aviation leasing company and a maintenance hangar, and on
creating concessions to run the country’s airports.
FEC as chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo also approved
1.52 billion naira ($4.99 million) of funding for the project.
Sirika said the government is awarding the N1.52 billion contract to “Messrs Lufthansa Consulting/TN Aero FGE, for the national carrier; for the aviation leasing company, it is Messrs Arrow; for the concession of airports, Messrs Infrata Dantens; for the establishment of the MRO, Messrs Arrow; then, the aerotropolis and agro cargo terminals were given to JEBB”.
“All of these were at different amounts but the total sum is N1.524bn. Council had graciously approved and these will signal the kick-start of all of the activities within the transportation and aviation industry,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, promised to set up a
national airline for the growth of Nigeria’s challenging aviation industry.
Sirka had said earlier in the year that the national
airline will be up and running by the end of 2017, adding that it will be
private-sector driven.
Nigeria’s previous national carrier was the Nigeria Airways,
wholly owned by the government and founded in 1958 after the dissolution of
West African Airways Corporation, but it ceased operations in 2003.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com