Dapo Olumide, the CEO of Nigeria Air, has admitted that the aircraft used for the official unveiling of the country’s national carrier was a chartered flight from Ethiopian Airlines.
This revelation was made by Olumide during his appearance before a House of Representatives committee on aviation on Tuesday.
The Quest Times reports that Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika had announced the formal launch of Nigeria Air following the arrival of a single jet bearing its colours. Sirika and other officials were at the airport to welcome the plane to Nigeria amidst fanfare.
But during a House of Representatives committee session, Olumide confirmed that the chartered aircraft was returned to Ethiopia two days after the unveiling ceremony.
“It was a chartered flight,” he said.
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His remark was a reaction to comments from members of the committee who said the aircraft bore the colours of the Nigerian flag.
Responding, Olumide said: “As a chartered flight, you can paint the aircraft in any colours you want”.
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“On a chartered flight, the aircraft was to come to Nigeria to Abuja and go back 48 hours later.”
Olumide also said the necessary procedures for the establishment of a national carrier were not completed before the unveiling.
“We have a five-phase process to go through with the regulator. After the five phases, you can get the AOC certificate. Until then, you do not have an airline. So we are in the five-phase process of getting the airline,” he said.
“We are in stage one. We left stage one but we replaced all the key management of the airline. We replaced all of them. When you replace them, you have to go back to phase one. That is the requirement.
“We have not gotten to phase two yet. We are going to go into phase two but to go into phase two, there are certain documents you must attach to your request. One of which is called the schedule of events. There are other technical documents. We are in the process of putting these together.”