ABUJA, July 6 (NNN-Xinhua) — Nigeria has issued the air transport license and will launch a new national carrier before the end of 2022, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said.
“We have a team in place, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has issued the Air Transport License, and we are processing the Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which will lead to the start of the airline,” he said at a two-day Africa Public-Private Partnership Network (AP3N) investment program held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The national carrier will be run by a company in which the Nigerian government will hold a 5 percent stake, Nigerian entrepreneurs 46 percent, while “the remaining 49 percent will be reserved for yet-to-be assigned strategic equity partners”, including foreign investors, Sirika said in November last year.
The most populous African country had a national airline as early as in the 1950s, which operated regional and domestic passenger services. Due to financial and operational challenges, Air Nigeria ceased operations in September 2012. — NNN-XINHUA
