Ethiopian Airlines is the frontrunner to manage Nigeria’s new national carrier, its chief executive has announced.
Nigeria unveiled plans for Nigeria Air, its new airline last month, and Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika indicated that it was in the market for investors to manage the carrier.
After enjoying a very successful financial year in which it carried its 10 millionth passenger, Ethiopian Airlines claims it is in the lead to take that role. “We are among a small group with an interest in establishing a national carrier (in Nigeria)…we do not know the results (of the tender), though we are frontrunners,” Chief Executive Tewolde Gebremariam told a news conference in Ethiopia’s capital.
The decision to make Nigeria Air a public-private partnership, 15 years after the last national carrier ceased operations, allayed fears in the country over the government’s ability to sustain an airline because of the country’s patchy history with previous national carriers.
“The (Nigerian) government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it,” Sirika had said at a press conference unveiling the new airline in July.
Nigeria’s federal government has experienced many difficulties in its efforts to create a new national carrier since Nigerian Airways ceased operations in 2003. In the past, investors such as British billionaire, Sir Richard Branson and Nigerian entrepreneur, Jimoh Ibrahim withdrew their involvement in previous carriers, citing mismanagement and corruption.
Some may see the involvement of Ethiopian Airlines as a welcome development. The state-owned airline has experienced rapid growth in recent years, emerging as Africa’s biggest airline by revenue and operating profit, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Ethiopian Airlines is launching new routes from Addis Ababa to Jakarta, Chicago and Geneva in the coming months.
Managing Nigeria’s national carrier will also be consistent with its investments in recent times. Ethiopian Airlines is looking to fend off competition from South African Airways, the largest carrier by number of flights, according to FlightGlobal, EgyptAir, Royal Air Maroc and Kenya Airways.
Source: CNN
