Domestic Airlines Requests That Court Terminates FG-Ethiopian Airline Deal
The national carrier project may be suspended by the court as domestic airlines have taken the Federal Government and its foreign technical partner and majority shareholders to court.
About eight local airlines and their association took the government to court on Friday, listing Nigerian Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as defendants.
Among others, the indigenous airlines want the court to stop the national carrier deal and withdraw the Air Transport License already issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government/Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
They also claimed that the firm which was the Transaction Adviser for the transaction, was incorporated in March last year and alleged that the company was linked to the aviation minister.
The local airlines further alleged that ATL issued to Nigerian Air did not pass through the normal security clearance.
According to them, the Federal Government’s partnership with Ethiopian Airlines on the project will send domestic airlines out of business by opening up the domestic air travel market to Ethiopian Airlines.
In September this year, the Federal Government named Ethiopian Airlines Consortium as preferred bidder for Nigeria Air. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced this in Abuja.
It was however learnt on Sunday that the Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, including Azman Air, Air Peace, Max Air, Topbrass Aviation and United Nigeria Airlines, filed a suit against the move on Friday.
The defendants in the suit are Sirika, Nigeria Air Limited, Ethiopian Airlines, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami. The suit was filed in the Federal High Court of Nigeria in the Lagos Judicial Division.
