Capt. John Ojikutu (ret.), CEO of Centurion Security Limited recommended that domestic airlines apply for government authority to designate one or two of them as flag carriers rather than taking the Nigeria Air contract to court.
He claimed he had misgivings about the action brought by the Nigerian airline operators against the federal government and its majority shareholders and international technical partners.
He also noted that there are numerous issues with the FGN-ET agreement.
He said, “What I believe that the private airlines can do instead of wasting their time is to seek government approval to designate one or two of them as flag carriers on at least five Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement routes.”
He expressed his displeasure about the ET alliance and predicted that the airline would end up dying the same manner that virgin Nigeria had.
“So, it is not something that will be forced on the next administration. It is not a government policy that we must have a partnership with ET. So, I am sure the next government will not succumb to that.
“What they have now is a government airline, not a national carrier. Government just called one or two persons. In SAHCOL two people there have 78 per cent shares, and one person in MRS, who is a foreigner, has 60 per cent. So, invariably, it is the government and one or two people as far as I am concerned.”
