Says Port Harcourt Airport Did Not Receive Proposals As Of RFP Deadline.
Aviation Minister Says No Going Back On Nigerian Air
The federal government through the Ministry of Aviation yesterday said the Request for Proposals (RFP) phase of the Nigeria Airports Concession Programme (NACP) which came to a close on September 19, 2022, saw the emergence of preferred and reserve bidders for three out of four airports and cargo terminals as approved for concession under the programme.
Concession Regulatory Commission and other stakeholders as
regards the way forward for the fourth airport asset which did not receive bids
as at the time of the RFP deadline.”
According to him, the outcomes of the RFP evaluation phase
were as follows: “The preferred bidder for the Nnamdi Azikiwe Internationa!
Airport (NAIA), Abuja, is Corporacion America Airports Consortium. ENL
Consortium has also been selected as the reserve bidder for NAIA.
“The preferred bidder for Murtala Mohammed International
Airport (MMIA), Lagos, is TAV/NAHCO/Project Planet Limited(PPL) consortium.
Sifax/Changi Consortium has also been selected as the reserve bidder for MMIA.
“The preferred bidder for Maliam Aminu Kano International
Airport (MAKIA), Kano, is Corporacion America Airports Consortium. There are no
reserve bidders for MAKIA as at the time of this announcement.”
He further said the Port Harcourt International Airport
(PHIA), Port Harcourt, did not receive any proposal as of the RFP deadline.
He said: “The Federal Ministry of Aviation reminds all
stakeholders that this is a multistage process and as such this is not the
final outcome of the NACP programme.
“The next stage of the programme is the negotiations and due
diligence stage, during which the federal government will invite preferred
bidders to enter detailed negotiations with its representatives, with a view to
developing a Full Business Case (FBC) before onward transmission to ICRC for
review and approval.
“Only after successful conclusion of the negotiation and due
diligence stage will the FBC and all other approvals be presented before the
Federal Executive Council for final approval by the Federal Government of
Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Sirika, has said Nigeria would go ahead with its
partnership with the Ethiopian Airlines to establish the Nigeria Airlines
Limited.
Sirika stated this during an engagement with the Senate
Committee on Aviation, the industry regulators and the Airlines Operators of
Nigeria (AON).
He wondered why members of the AON were vehemently opposed
to the idea of a national carrier when they were adequately carried along when
the plan started seven years ago.
The minister insisted that the essence of having a national
carrier was to improve services and make the industry affordable to all and
sundry.
He said, “We have met severally with the airlines operators
and pleaded with them to invest in the project. This is because the federal
government would have a minimum shareholding in it.
“Nobody is shut out. Everyone is allowed to come and be part
owner. As to what is the status of Nigeria Air? Nigeria Air is a company that
is registered and known to the laws of Nigeria which will become by the God’s
grace the much awaited airline.
“It is going to happen by the grace of God between now and
December of this year. It will fly and also compete fairly with all of those
existing airline.
“The intent is not to kill any business. The intent is to
help to promote all businesses to be able to provide the needed service and
employ our people. This is the intent and the more the merrier.
“The more that you have people doing businesses, then the
ones that does it better take the advantage and they give more service and the
people get served better.
“Also, if every one of them is doing very well without any
favouritism, then it means that the competition will be healthy and will bring
down the price of tickets and increase the propensity to fly and make more
people to fly and then make more money for the airlines and give more service
to the country Nigeria.
“The fact that it is going to be a robust airline that is
going to be established, that is going to have connections all over the world,
it only means that the market of Nigeria which is 200 million people will begin
to be the benefit of Nigerians not to the benefit of British Airways, Lufthansa
and Emirates airlines of this world that are coming to take the money of
Nigeria away.”
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Biodun Olujimi, said
the essence of the parley was for the minister to clear the air on the concerns
raised by members of the AON.
According to her, the AON wanted to know the implications of
the Ethiopian Airlines partnership with the Nigeria Airlines Limited,
especially how it would hamper the businesses of patriotic Nigerians who had
invested massively in the sector.
The Vice President, AON, who is also the Chairman/CEO of Air
Peace, Allen Onyema, spoke on behalf of his other colleagues on the occasion.
He reiterated that what the Ethiopian Airlines decided to do
was to enter into the Nigerian market and reduced its prices to the detriment
of the local operators over a period of six months and take over 60 per cent of
the market share.
“In no distant time, the local airlines would be out of the
market leaving only the Ethiopian Airlines and a few others flying the Nigerian
space.
“This would skyrocket the prices of flights because the
demands would be higher than supply.
“Already, domestic airlines in Nigeria had ordered for over
40 brand new aircraft. The effect of this is that all the Nigerian banks that
had extended credits to the airlines would also be in trouble.
“Ethiopian Airlines wanted to be the National Flag Carrier
while we have domestic airlines in Nigeria that a well-equipped to fly
international routes.
“Let us consider our own first because charity begins at
home. Anything that would stand the test of time must start from home.
Ethiopian does not have any agenda to grow Nigeria. They want to practice
Aviation colonisation in Africa,” the Air Peace boss said.
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