The managing Director Nigeria Air captain Dayo Olumide has confirmed that the unveiled Nigeria Aircraft launched by the Administration of Muhamadu Buhari was a chattered aircraft from Ethiopia hired for few days to show case the logo to Nigerians and their shareholders.
Captain Dayo made the revelation when he appeared before the senate committee on Aviation to clarify on the controversies surrounding the Airline which was launched a day to the expiration of the last administration.
He added that the aircraft that came and left was a legitimate chartered flight which can be done by anyone who doesn’t have a license as long as you pay for it.
He noted that , for Nigeria to operate an aircraft , the aircraft must be Nigeria registered .
He added that, the particular aircraft that was unveiled was not registered and came into Nigeria with a few days clearance from Ethiopia and was returned after use.
He further stated that Nigeria only has airport license which is one of two licenses required for operating an airline and does not permit one to carry out commercial services operations
The MD further revealed that for Nigeria Air to get the needed license, Nigeria must have three aircrafts before the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority will give the country air license to fly and the three aircrafts must be Nigeria registered aircrafts.
According to him there are five phases or steps one goes through to get the license and Nigeria is still in phase one of the process.
While reacting to some reports that the passengers on board bought tickets, the MD refuted that the passengers were staff of Ethiopia airline that were brought in and at the end of the unveiling went back with their aircraft to Ethiopia.
Captain Dayo with 40 years’ experience in Airline operations further confirmed that he was appointed in February 2022, to secure the air operating certificate for the airline to fly and not to operate the airline.
He added that Nigeria is not at a point of operating the airline yet, as Nigeria Air does not have terminal for international operations.
