Nigeria Abandons Plans for Partnership with Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines has declared that the Nigerian government has lost any interest it may have had in partnership with the view of establishing the Nigeria Air project.

This statement was announced by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Airlines Group, Mesfin Tasew in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

“The Nigerian government has lost interest in partnering with a foreign airline,” Tasew said.

This is coming about two months after the Federal Government put an indefinite halt to the Nigeria Air project.

Remember that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, announced the indefinite suspension of the Nigeria Air project on May 27 during the ministerial briefing of the first year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He further condemned the arrangement on the ownership of the suspended airline, stating that the deal with the Ethiopian Airlines is not in the best interest of Nigeria.

The minister also said that it will be politically incorrect for the Federal Government to allow a foreign company to capture the entire aviation market in Nigeria, thus hampering the growth of the indigenous businesses.

The Ministry of Aviation under a former minister Hadi Sirika introduced Nigeria Air three days to the end of the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The Nigeria Air project attracted the attention of the stakeholders all over the country regarding the ownership structure that granted Ethiopian Airlines the largest percentage of 49 per cent shares.

The Federal Government had a 5 per cent equity holding, while a group of three Nigerian investors had 46 per equity holding.

The House of Representatives responded to the deal in June 2023, calling on the Federal Government to suspend the Nigeria Air over fraud.