FG may float a national carrier by December

Benjamin Okewu, national president, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), on Wednesday said that the Federal Government might float a national carrier by December. 
Okewu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that a Federal Government committee was in place to ensure that Nigeria “has its own national carrier that would serve as a driver in the nation’s aviation industry.”

The ATSSSAN president noted that the process of creating the national carrier would have been completed long ago but for the June 3 Dana plane crash that slowed it down.

“There is a committee on establishing a national carrier and incidentally, the joint trade union forum is representing the unions there.

“I think that the Dana crash slowed down the activities of the committee and I am aware that it is now trying to hasten the process-- to put finishing touches-- to enable it take off latest by December 2012.

“We want to start having a national carrier by December; that is the target. So, if we can start by January, it is still a good development,’’ he said.

He stressed the need for the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for the airlines to succeed.

According to Okewu, giving out intervention funds by government is counterproductive because most airline operators ended up misappropriating the funds, rather than injecting it into the airline business.