President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Ministry of Aviation to expedite action on the establishment of a new national airline for the country.
The erstwhile national carrier, the Nigeria Airways, established in 1958, was liquidated in 2003.
Buhari gave the order on Wednesday while being briefed by officials of the Aviation Ministry, led by the Permanent Secretary, Binta Bello.
Bello told State House correspondents after the briefing that the President was concerned about Nigeria not having a national air carrier, hence the instruction to re-establish one.
“Mr President is quite concerned with lack of a national carrier for now and he has directed the ministry to look into the possibility of having a national carrier as soon as possible,” she said.
She said the president was also briefed on the challenges domestic airlines were facing in spite of the N300 billion intervention fund by the government to enable them boost their operations.
She said the airlines were indebted to the regulatory agencies under the Aviation Ministry and that some of these agencies were struggling to maintain optimum operational capabilities.
The Permanent Secretary announced that the four state-of-the-art airport terminals being constructed with loan from the Chinese Bank would be ready by the first quarter of 2016.
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