He stated that there are private Nigerian airline Investors ready to invest and already investing heavily on the sector and only asking for a more-friendly operational environment and infrastructure support, which the government had failed to provide.
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said that national carrier idea is moribund and expressed surprise why the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika insisted on having such a system for the country.
AON also commended the Federal Government especially the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for suspending the idea, saying that it showed the government listens to the yearning of Nigerians.
Speaking with aviation journalists today at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, the Chairman of AON, Capt. Nogie Meggison said that it would have been wrong for the government to expended billions of naira of the country’s earning on such project, which may be moribund in the next five years.
Rather, he said such funds could be diverted to other critical aspects of the economy and boosts the country’s performance.
The body also accused Sirika of running a non-transparent regime on the planned national carrier while he did not clearly define the role of private investors in the entire process.
He stated that there are private Nigerian airline Investors ready to invest and already investing heavily on the sector and only asking for a more-friendly operational environment and infrastructure support, which the government had failed to provide.
“Setting up of national carrier will cost Nigeria at least $3bn (a single B777 as of today costs about $320m.). Is it wise and our priority as a nation to take $3bn from the Nigerian coffers today and put into a venture that will for sure go down the drain within a maximum of five years to establish?
“Bearing also in mind that the national carrier will need an additional cash injection of $500m subsidy per year on average for the next 10 years to keep the airline afloat while about 97 per cent of the 200 million Nigerian masses today are grappling for the basic necessities of life; food, shelter, electricity, water, education and good roads.
“This is corroborated by a recent CNN report stated that Nigeria has overtaken India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty, with an estimated 100 million Nigerians, or around half of the country's population, thought to be living on less than $1.00 a day,” he said.
Meggison explained that national carrier project has become obsolete in Europe, South America, USA while 90 per cent of former national carriers had been privatized including Lufthansa and British Airways among others.
“Also, they are all flag carriers which are completely private entities,” he said.
He added that South African Airways, for instance, has been termed as being in insolvency in the last 10 years and had been receiving from the government bailout yearly $400 million in order for it to stay in business while Kenya Airways has equally been struggling to remain in the air.
He said Kenya Airways is at the moment facing a tough financial crisis that is threatening its existence, stressing that the airline recently got a $750m bailout in the past year, adding that Ethiopian airlines with over $35bn exposure, is rushing to go public or may start to default in payments soon.
“The truth is that the whole national carrier concept is totally unsustainable and will be a drainpipe that will lead to wastage of our scarce resources.
“Nigeria does not need a national carrier. Like what operates in advanced countries of the world, what Nigeria needs are strong private airlines that are allowed to operate in a friendly operational environment with a level playing field and policies that ensure their survival,” he said.