Proposed MKO Abiola Airport in Osun State
The Federal Government is warming up to the prospect of 10 new airports to add to the 26 that are dotting the landscape. Despite the vicissitudes wrought on the nation by the COVID-19 pandemic and paucity of funds, some states’ governors too are nursing an appetite to binge on this high-capital venture. WOLE OYEBADE writes that the economies of aviation business and cargo services would not favour white elephants, which always get abandoned mid-way, or end up as giveaways to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as bad debt. Stakeholders reckon that in place of new self-serving ventures, the existing facilities should be optimised through good infrastructure, road and rail networks for the private sector to explore profitably.
By Nwabueze Okonkwo, ONITSHA
Anambra state government has debunked a statement recently credited to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika to the effect that the on-going Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport project located at Umueri community in Anambra East Local Government Area of the state is among 10 airports in the country being built by the federal government.
The state Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba in a press statement, said although the federal government appreciated the need for an airport in Anambra state given the huge population and the universally acknowledged business dynamism of the people who constantly travel around the world, the on-going Airport project is being developed and financed solely by the state government.
COVID-19 Second Wave: Nigerian Government May Ban UK, US Flights Next Week
The Federal Government’s plan may not be unconnected with pressures on it to stop further spread of coronavirus by banning flights from nations with high rates of the virus.
by SaharaReporters, New York
Dec 29, 2020
The National Assembly and the Ministry of Aviation are planning to ban flights coming from the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries with high rates of COVID-19, according to what the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi said on Monday.
Adeyemi told the PUNCH in Abuja that the decision on the issue would be announced next week.
COVID-19 second wave: FG, National Assembly consider UK, US flights’ ban next week
Sunday Aborisade, Dayo Ojerinde, Joseph Olaoluwa, Bola Bamigbola and Daud Olatunji
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, on Monday said the National Assembly and the Ministry of Aviation were considering banning flights from the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries with high rates of COVID-19.
Adeyemi, who stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said a decision on the issue would be announced next week.
The Federal Government’s plan may not be unconnected with pressures on it to stop further spread of coronavirus by banning flights from nations with high rates of the virus.
COVID-19: Emplacing proper bailout structure for Nigerian airlines COVID-19: Emplacing proper bailout structure for Nigerian airlines
Dec 14, 2020
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Since the Federal Government, through the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, announced the approval of N4 billion as bailout funds for the domestic airlines to cushion the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s aviation sector has been thrown into a hot debate on the desirability or otherwise of the intervention. SHOLA ADEKOLA samples opinions of key players on the bailout debacle.
Introduction
PRIOR to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, domestic airline business had already been engulfed in myriad of challenges that hindered the optimal performance of the local airlines. Such challenges include the high exchange rate, unpopular policies of government like the multiple entry points and loose frequencies granted the foreign airlines at the detriment of the indigenous carriers, too many taxes, customs duty on