Senator Confirms December Date For National Airline

The proposed national airline for Nigeria would be unveiled before the end of the year, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika has confirmed.
Sirika, a former pilot, gave the assurance while receiving the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance for the establishment of the airline from Mr Chidi Izuwah, the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
The Minister said that the presentation of the Certificate was a testament on how far the project had gone.
The Outline Business Case Certificate issued by the ICRC for the National Carrier
The proposed airline will gulp $8.8million preliminary cost and $300 million as take-off cost.
The Nigerian government is not fully funding the airline as it has adopted midwifing it via the option of a Public Private partnership, to deliver a national carrier that would stand the test of time and be world class in operation and management.
According to Sirika, Nigeria will receive the first set of five airplanes for the airliner on 19 December.
The airline will make profit in three years after operations, he said.
“We will make the investments and follow the business plan through private sector management.
“We intend to get a 30 aircraft market in five years. But we will begin with five aircraft on the day of lunch. It was not clear whether an order has been made for the aircraft, but the minister in May met a team from Boeing in Abuja.