Nigeria plans re-launch of national airline in December

Nigeria plans to re-launch a national airline in December, its junior aviation minister said Wednesday, as the government seeks to make good on President Muhammadu Buhari’s election campaign promise to introduce a new carrier. Decades of neglect and lack of investment have left Nigeria with low-quality infrastructure seen as a hurdle to prosperity. The government has said that upgrading it will require private investment. The Nigerian government will not own more than 5% of the new carrier, Nigeria Air, junior minister Hadi Sirika said at the Farnborough air show in England. “This will be a national carrier that is private sector led and driven,” Sirika said. “It is a business, not a social service. Government will not be involved in running it or deciding who runs it. The investors will have full responsibility for this.” The junior minister said 81 domestic, regional and international routes were planned, and that the government had been in talks with Airbus and Boeing about Nigeria Air’s planes.<br/>