Nigeria Airlines can be established for N985 billion (US$6.2bn), says managing director of AirGold Aviation, Engr. Ifeanyi Okocha.
Okocha and his team of aviation professionals have carried out a feasibility study which will soon be submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan that will state the estimated start-up costs as well as proposing that the new carrier will be managed professionals not by civil servants.
“If Nigeria Airways Limited was managed professionally; the national carrier would still be operating till today. But it was run in a civil service manner,” said Okocha.
Okocha added that as at the time NAL was liquidated, the national carrier had four large maintenance departments, which could have been converted to Maintenance Overhaul and Repair (MRO) facilities to drive revenue. However, these were closed down.
The proposed carrier, Okocha said will commence flight operations with 48 aircraft and will introduce aeronautic industrial section after the first year of operation.
The group is relying on the Federal Government to fund the project which will be in form of loans, while it directs the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to supervise the project. The hope is that the loan will be paid back to the Federal Government within 10 years period and “within three years of commencing operations, the carrier will be taken to the Nigeria Stock Exchange”.
New flag carrier for Nigeria
