>
Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has disclosed that the new national carrier is expected to commence operation by the first quarter of 2022.
Sirika said this on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
He explained that the new national carrier is long overdue, adding that the private sector-run airline will be in operation by early 2022, with possibly cheaper rates.
The minister added that the new national carrier is expected to be a viable airline and is potentially poised to cater to millions of travelers in Nigeria and Africa.
According to Sirika, the forced postponement of the planned date for the establishment of the National Carrier (which was initially planned for the end of 2021) was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He stated that the Ministry would return to the council in two weeks to submit a memo with an outline business case for its approval.
Sirika also announced the approval of contract for the procurement of a towable mobile office for the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) of the civil aviation authority.
“The contract is for the procurement, equipment and installation of accident investigation towable mobile offices in favour of Messrs. Crases Integrity Services Limited. The total contract sum is N201,150,437.21.
“The purpose of this equipment, once purchased, if there is, God forbid, an accident anywhere, these mobile offices will be driven to the location and an office will be established for the purposes of taking data, collecting samples and gathering information regarding the incident and then analysing them on site and tagging them and doing all sorts of things there and you know, this can take any time, sometimes a few hours, sometimes even weeks,”the minister said.