Ethiopian Airlines (ET) consortium has been selected as the
preferred bidder for Nigeria Air, owning 49 percent of the national carrier.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, said this during a media
briefing on Friday in Abuja.
Sirika said ET scored 89 percent out of 100 in the technical
bidding process and 15 out of 20 as regards financial bids.
He explained that the request for proposal (RFP) under the
public-private partnership (PPP) Act, governed by Infrastructure Concession
Regulatory Commission(ICRC), has been completed.
“After a careful,
detailed and ICRC governed selection process, Ethiopian Airlines (ET)
Consortium has been selected as the preferred bidder, offering an owner
consortium of 3 Nigerian investors.
“The Nigerian investors are MRS, SAHCO and the Nigerian
Sovereign Fund (46%), FGN owning 5% and ET 49%. The consortium has been subject
to a due diligence process.
“The contract will be negotiated between consortium and FGN,
leading to a full business case (FBC) which will be expected to be approved by
the federal executive council (FEC). We expect this process to take 6-8 weeks.”
The minister said the national carrier would launch with
three Boeing 737-800 in a configuration very suitable for the Nigerian market.
According to him, Nigeria Air will be launched with a
shuttle service between Abuja and Lagos to establish a new comfortable,
reliable and affordable travel between the two major airports.
The minister added that other domestic destinations would
follow later.
“The first aircraft is ready to arrive in Abuja for further
work and NCAA inspection, demo flights and audit as part of the AOC
requirements.
“In time, two others will arrive to complete the required
three aircraft for a new AOC holder. The interim executive team has prepared
with the support of FAAN.
“The team has arranged for Terminal C at the Abuja Airport
and finalised a contract with MMA 2 terminal in Lagos for the operation of an
initial shuttle between Lagos and Abuja,” he said.
He noted that the Operations Control Centre (OCC) at the
Abuja Airport would act as the headquarters of the airline.
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