A flight belonging to Nigeria Air has touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Daily Trust had reported that the flight which took off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was getting set for the journey to Nigeria’s capital city.
Two days ago, Daily Trust had reported how the promise that the national carrier would fly before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure had not been kept.
Apparently reacting to the report, Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation, had said insisted that Nigeria Air would fly before the tenure of Buhari ends.
Speaking in a Channels Television interview, Sirika said, “On the question of Nigeria Air, on Friday in two days, Nigeria Air plane will land in Nigeria as part of the processes to commence operation. We will on that day unveil this aircraft, the livery and everything in Nigeria’s colours, belong to Nigeria Air and we will proceed to go and do the retrofit and bring back those airplanes.”
Sources had told our correspondent that a plane already painted in Nigeria Air colour was planning to arrive in the country from Ethiopian Airlines for a proposed test flight, as of the time Sirika granted the interview.
There have been controversies involved in the project, which is currently being challenged by domestic airlines.
In an interview on Friday, Chief Executive of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi said the arrival of the aircraft did not translate into commencement of commercial operation by the airline.
He made his position known while featuring on Channels TV Sunrise Daily monitored by our correspondent.
Sanusi, who bared his mind on the issue during the interview said it is one thing for the aircraft to arrive the country and it is another for the airline to commence commercial operation.
According to him, it is practically impossible for the airline to start commercial passenger operation in two days’ time given the rigorous process involved which he believes would not be waived by the regulatory authority, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as the whole world is watching.
He said, “It is one thing to bring the airplane to the country, it is another thing to start the airline, getting all the necessary approvals from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“There’s a very important and vital component of getting an AOC which is the demonstration flights. Of course, there are waivers that the Director General of the NCAA has the power to give, but the demonstration flights is critical to safe operations and I do not think he would give that waiver.”
