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Confusion surrounds proposed take-off of national carrier

By on December 18, 2013

The proposed take-off date of the national carrier being planned by the Federal Government has sparked confusion and anxiety in the aviation industry.

Our correspondent learnt that stakeholders had been kept guessing about the details of the proposed national carrier, with speculations on the actual date of its take-off.

The take-off date of the project, which has been on the cards for over a year, is a major source of concern for stakeholders as some reports speculated that it was billed to start before the end of this year.

However, our correspondent learnt on Monday that the take-off of the airline was being planned to coincide with the country’s centenary celebration, and that this might have informed the rush by officials to ensure that the airline commence operations before the end of the year.

A source, who did not want to be quoted because he was not authorised to speak on the subject, told our correspondent that right now, the picture was unclear as to the commencement of the project.

“Some people think that the project will be targeted to fall in line with Nigeria’s centenary celebration, while some others seem to think that it may happen before the end of the year following the promise made by the Aviation minister earlier this year; so, we have to wait and see,” he said.

However, the Coordinating General Manager, Corporate Communications, Aviation Parastatals, Mr. Yakubu Dati, told our correspondent on Monday that no date had been fixed for the commencement of operation by the national carrier.

Although he hinted that it could happen before the end of the year, he said that there were still details to be sorted out as well as discussions among the various stakeholders on the project, adding that the project would take off after all the issues might have been sorted out.

Dati said, “The fact remains that there are still some issues to be looked into towards fine-tuning the national carrier issue; remember that this thing is not only going to be decided by us in the aviation sector, other sectors are involved in making some key decisions regarding the carrier.

“Also, other organs of government and parastatals are involved; so, we are in the process of going through the modalities and fine-tuning the process to ensure a smooth take-off of the project, which we expect will be very soon.”

Efforts by our correspondent to get a reaction from the Special Assistant to the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, were futile as his mobile telephone number did not go through and neither did he respond to a text message sent to his phone.

Another issue generating controversy as regards the carrier is the airline to be designated as the carrier.

 

 

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