In a meeting with Ethiopian Airlines board chairman Girma Wake, President Muhammadu Buhari discussed the operationalization of Nigeria Air.
Wake requested a resolution of the legal issue preventing Nigeria Air, in which Ethiopian Airlines has a 49% stake, from starting operations at the meeting on Sunday in Addis Ababa, according to a statement released on Monday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.
He had also requested the repatriation of the airline funds trapped in the country over foreign exchange challenges.On Nigeria Air, President Buhari told the board chairman that it was a ‘weighty decision’ by the Nigerian government to re-launch a national carrier, expressing confidence that ‘‘things will be alright.’’
Wake, who met with President Buhari on the margins of the 36th AU Summit, said the airline had been treated very well in Nigeria since it started operations 60 years ago in the country.Nigeria serves as an African aviation hub in addition to being a market.
Nigeria is a unique nation, and Nigerians travel the world more than anyone else, he claimed.The aviation chief, who was joined on the visit by Mesfin Tasswe, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, and Daniel Abebe, Group Vice President Strategic Planning and Alliances, hinted that the airline had plans to expand operations in the nation, with additional daily flight services to Lagos from Addis Ababa as well as Abuja-Addis Ababa.He claimed that as soon as all legal issues are settled, the airline and its partners will be prepared to launch operations under the name Nigeria Air.
