The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation yesterday warned Nigerian aviation authorities against granting a UK-based Titan Airways approval to fly into the country for evacuation flight if a Nigerian Airline is refused landing rights for similar flight by the British authorities.
The committee, chaired by Mr. Nnolim Nnaji, arrived at the decision at the end of the investigative hearing on the use of Emirates, British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines to evacuate stranded Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America
The House had on Tuesday, May 12, 2020 in adopting a motion sponsored by nine members on the matter mandated the committee to investigate why the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 engaged the foreign carriers for the evacuation flights at expense of indigenous airline e operators.
Equally, the House had on the account of that motion urged President Mohammed Buhari to direct the ministries of aviation and foreign affairs, ministerial departments, and the PTF COVID-19 to ensure that Nigerian Airlines enjoy the right of first refusal in any future evacuation flights.
The committee also directed the ministry of aviation and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) to deny approval to any airline from Canada unless the Canadian authority gives a Nigerian operator approval for evacuation Nigerians stranded in that North American country.
The ministry of aviation and its relevant agencies were also mandated to report Canada to the International Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO) for denying a Nigerian Airline landing rights for the evacuation of stranded Nigerian citizens in that country.
The minister of aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika and his foreign affairs counterpart Mr. Godfrey Onyeama who were in attendance at the investigative hearing were however spared the ire of the committee by the presentation made on behalf of the indigenous airlines by the chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema to the effect that they both tried to protect their interests but blamed the frustration the airlines were going through on what he called “international aero politics.”
He praised Sirika for his unprecedented support to the indigenous airline operators since he assumed office adding that the approval for importation of aircraft which used to take months to obtain before Sirika became minister “now takes less than forty-eight hours to get approved.”
Nnaji had, earlier in his remarks, expressed the Committee’s displeasure at the engagement of foreign airlines in the earlier evacuation which according to him undermined the integrity of Nigeria as a leading economy in Africa.
