Nigeria Air debut postponed to mid-2023

The launch date of Nigeria Air (Lagos) has been adjusted to June 2023, according to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) that regulates public-private partnerships in the West African country.

The startup has been given the presidential nod of approval. All hands were now on deck to make it happen, ICRC Acting Director-General Michael Ohiani told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“We are working round the clock to get it operational. We are working with the Ministry of Aviation, and we have just gotten Presidential approval,” Ohiani was quoted in the report posted on the official ICRC website. He said the process would be moving to “the next stage by the end of February”.

“We will get the concessionaire; once we have gotten the concessionaire, which is a major step, the issue of operation will now follow. I can assure you that before the end of this administration, Air Nigeria will start flying,” he said. Buhari is expected to leave office in May 2023, following the end of his second term.

Long-mooted, Nigeria Air will be a public-private partnership with the federal government slated to have a 5% stake, while 49% would be held by as yet unassigned strategic equity partners, and 46% by Nigerian entrepreneurs.

First proposed in 2018, Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) in November 2021 greenlighted the commencement of the process to establish the airline. At the time, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika had proposed April 2022 as a feasible timeline.

Meanwhile, Ohiani said six cargo airports would be developed to boost the transportation of agricultural produce within and from Nigeria.

The ICRC was also working on procuring tenders for terminal operations at four international airports in Nigeria, finalising the establishment of an MRO facility for which an investor was already lined up; and concluding proposals for an aircraft leasing company that would be submitted to the Federal Executive Council.