Nigeria Air was politicised, we’ve backed out – Ethiopian Airlines CEO

Mesfin Tasew, Ethiopian Airlines’ Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) has said that the establishment of a national carrier in Nigeria was politicised. He said it was the intention of Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa, to help the government establish a profitable airline but that the process was politicised as Nigerian airlines were opposed […]

Mesfin Tasew, Ethiopian Airlines’ Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) has said that the establishment of a national carrier in Nigeria was politicised.

He said it was the intention of Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa, to help the government establish a profitable airline but that the process was politicised as Nigerian airlines were opposed to it.

This was the first time the airline’s CEO would speak after the nullification of its selection as the equity partner for Nigeria Air.

Recall that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, suspended the establishment of Nigeria Air when he assumed office a year ago.

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But on August 5, 2024, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos in a judgment on a case filed by the Registered Trustees of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), ruled that the action, conduct and or decisions in the sale of the shares and operations of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines “were in violation of relevant laws, including the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020; SEC Nigeria Consolidated Rules & Regulations 2013 (as amended in 2022); the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Convention; Civil Aviation Act; Public Procurement Act; among others.”

The judge granted most of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, which included among others, the setting aside of the entire bidding process for Nigeria Air.

But in an interview with Bloomberg monitored by our correspondent, the Ethiopian Airlines CEO stated that the project to help Nigeria set up an airline had been closed.

He said, “We had a great hope of establishing a very strong national carrier for Nigeria. We started but unfortunately it didn’t become successful after the change of government in Nigeria; but that project is closed now.

“We don’t have a current plan to go to Nigeria as it stands. We don’t have the intention to partner with any of the Nigerian airlines to date because it has been politicised.

“We tried to help the country by partnering with the government and other institutional investors in Nigeria to use our expertise, our experience and establish a reliable airline that would be profitable in the short term. But as you may have read from the media, it was not welcomed by the Nigerian airlines.

“They considered it in a wrong direction. They believed that if Ethiopian Airlines goes into Nigeria it will hurt their business; which is not right. Our intention was to help the country but since they objected to the idea, there is no need for Ethiopian Airlines to go there as long as they don’t accept it, we don’t want to be a problem there.”

The Airline Operators in Nigeria (AON), through its President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, said the Nigeria Air unveiled by former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, was a sham.

He said, “It was also a surreptitious plan to kill Nigerian indigenous airlines and handover the commonwealth of Nigeria’s huge aviation market with over 85 Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) around the world to Ethiopian Airlines through the back door without investing a penny into the Nigerian economy in an attempt to satisfy the whims and caprices of some selfish and unpatriotic individuals.”