AIRLINES that are heavily indebted to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCOM) are at the verge of been fully taken over by the government agency to pave way for a new national carrier.
The Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi, had penultimate week named the yet-to-emerge carrier "Nigeria One."
A top official of a leading Nigerian airline told The Guardian that when this is done, "all the debtor airlines will now be liquidated and pave way for the new carrier to provide all airline services across Nigeria, Europe, the United States and many other countries that Nigeria has Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) with."
When contacted, the Deputy Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella body for airlines in Nigeria, said he had already fixed this Friday for a meeting to discuss the matter, among other issues confronting the sector.
It was listed as "clandestinely winding up of some of Nigeria's biggest airlines by AMCON," which, he alleged, would pave way for Nigeria One. Another issue he said would be discussed at the meeting was the astronomical navigation charges, described as some of the highest in the world.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the Federal Government has settled for Aer Lingus Group Plc of Ireland as aircraft lessor for Nigerian carriers. The proposed acquisition of 30 aircraft for interested airlines could be warehoused with the firm.
Aer Lingus is Ireland's national flag carrier and operates a fleet of airbus serving Europe, North America, North Africa and Asia. It is Ireland's oldest extant airline, and it's second largest, after low-cost rival, Ryanair, which owns 29.4 per cent of Aer Lingus stock. The Irish state owns 25.4 per cent.
Already, representatives of the company are said to have held a meeting with the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, but there were grey areas that needed to be fine tuned before the N500 billion intervention fund for the airlines could be released.
Sources close to the Ministry of Aviation and AON disclosed that Sanusi was very careful about the assistance to the airlines in view of what happened three years ago, when over N250 billion was given to them to revitalise their operations, but the money went down the drain.
Most of the carriers then got huge chunk of money, but nothing meaningful was achieved with the loans. Some were alleged to have diverted the money while their airlines were subsequently liquidated. Others are heavily indebted to banks, giving AMCON an opportunity to come in.
Also, an anonymity source disclosed that Sanusi had expressed displeasure at giving money to the Irish firm to finance aircraft acquisition for operators in the country. He advised that the operators should go through the banks, so that in case of default, the banks would know how to recover their money.
(Guardian)
source: nigerianeye
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