One of the ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate on
Wednesday, Senator Hadi Sirika, says there is need for the reintroduction of a
national air carrier.
According to him, the reintroduction of a national air
carrier would enable Nigeria reciprocate the many bilateral agreements it
entered with other nations.
Senator Sirika stated this in response to a question on the
desirability or otherwise of proposed national carrier when he appeared before
the Senate for screening as a ministerial nominee.
Sirika, who was the last to be grilled by the senators and
was a former member of the Red Chamber.
A pilot himself, and being touted to head the Aviation
Ministry, Sirika admitted that he was one of the proponents of a national
carrier.
Following the liquidation of the Nigerian Airways in 2002,
Nigeria has not been able to utilize the 48 bilateral air service agreements
(BASAs) it signed with various countries.
Experts say the BASAs have been mismanaged by the Aviation
Ministry to the detriment of the indigenous airlines thereby giving foreign
airlines undue advantage.
Responding to the question from Senate President Bukola
Saraki on the issue, Sirika said having a national carrier would equally crash
prices of flight tickets in the country.
He noted for instance that Nigerians pay twice flying from
Abuja to London than flying from Accra (Ghana) to London whereas Accra to
London route is farther than Abuja to London’s.
He said: “Over 90 per cent of the international market has
been taken by international airlines that come from other countries and most of
them are either state-owned or partly state-owned.
“Second reason is the fact that most of these bilateral agreements
that we signed with nations that are into this aviation also become lopsided
because more or less Nigeria cannot take advantage of those because we do not
have a national carrier or any designated carrier to do that job”.
Credit: Daily Trust
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