‘Don’t Disburse N500bn Lifeline To Individual Airlines’

An airline operator, Mr Steven Adekunle, on Friday, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to disburse its proposed N500 billion lifeline to individual domestic airlines.

Adekunle, Managing Director of Space World International Airline, told newsmen in Lagos that the fund should be used for the development of infrastructure in the aviation sector.

The CBN had on June 30 said that it had extended the lifeline meant to stimulate the power and manufacturing sectors to the aviation industry.

The spokesman for the bank, Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, said in a statement that airlines could draw from the fund.

Adekunle said that giving the money directly to airlines might not address the operators problems.

“The fund should be diverted for infrastructural development such as the establishment of an aircraft maintenance base, aviation fuel refinery and cabin crew stimulator.”

“None of these facilities is available in the country. These are the transactions that the airlines carry out abroad, using dollars.”

“The availability of these facilities will go a long way to lessen the operational burden posed by this challenge,’’ he said.

The managing director hailed the CBN’s action, saying that it would facilitate the development of the aviation industry.