THE Federal Government has approved the leasing of three aircraft to enable the operational take-off of the new national carrier, Nigeria Air.
The carrier would commence operations on domestic routes with three aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing.
The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, made the disclosure while briefing journalists today after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Sirika announced that the airline would begin with the domestic routes, and then expand to regional and intercontinental routes. He was not specific on the actual date for the take-off of the airline’s operations.
“We will announce commencement soon,” the minister said.
Nigeria Air was unveiled in July 2018 during the Farnborough Air Show in England. But the project was suspended thereafter.
However, the airline’s interim management was recently given an Air Transport Licence (ATL), signalling preparedness to commencement of operations.
An ATL certification is a document that states the kinds of operations a carrier will embark on scheduled, non-scheduled, and cargo air services within and outside a country, and precedes the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), which empowers an airline to operate scheduled commercial flights.
The Nigeria Air‘s ATL, with number NCAA/ATR1/ATL214, signed by the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, will run for a period of five years, from June 3, 2022 to June 2, 2027.
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