Not a free sky

• Published date: 10 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The aviation sector may not be free of turbulence due to unresolved contentions over vexed industry issues.There are apprehensions that navigating these turbulent decisions in a transition year could alter the stakes for many uncompleted projects, policies and other developments. Kelvin Osa-Okunbor reports.

Issues and development that will determine the outlook of the aviation sector in 2023 are increasingly becoming a puzzle for many operators, regulators and stakeholders alike.

Reason? The projection of expected outcomes for the challenged industry may veer off the predictive curve as industry players strategise for a shift in paradigm.

Significantly, ongoing litigation over many unresolved issues, including local carriers' challenge of the emergence of the proposed National Carrier - Nigeria Air - at the Federal High Court, will set the tone for how the year will run in the strategic sector.

Acting under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), local carriers are challenging the Federal Government for selecting Ethiopian Airlines as the core investor and technical partner of Nigeria Air.

As a spillover from last year, accelerated hearing for the suit will come up January 16, 2023.

The Federal High Court in Lagos had on December 9, 2022 reaffirmed its interim injunction order stopping the promoters of the national carrier from going ahead with the project.

The Order of Interim Injunction issued on December 9, 2022 aligned with an earlier order issued on November 24, 2022, which stated that the injunction could not be vacated pending the determination of the Motion on Notice filed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to stop the project.

Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa after hearing the submission of Nureni Jimoh, SAN, with Abubakar Nuhu Ahmad Esq.counsel for the Plaintiff/Applicant and Mr. Seun Oriowo esq with Oyin Koleosho Esq. counsel for the 1, 3 and 4 Defendants, Bassey Attoe Esq.counsel for the 2 Defendant; adjourned the matter to January 16, 2023.

The matter had earlier been slated for February 13, 2023 in Suit FHC/L/CS/2159/2022 at the same court.

The optics of this case, experts say, would be one of the defining moments for the aviation sector in 2023.

The suit was filed by The Registered Trustees of the Airline Operators, Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited and Top Brass Aviation Limited.

In an interview, President , Top Brass Aviation, Captain Roland Iyayi, said local carriers are determined to fight the imposition of a foreign carrier on Nigeria as core investor/technical partner for the proposed national carrier - Nigeria Air - in the year in preview.

Iyayi said the template created by the Federal Government and its agencies for the proposed carrier is jaundiced because it confers undue advantage on the airline to the detriment of indigenous carriers , which have been exposed to an unfavourable operating environment.

He wondered why the Federal Government should offer a 15-year moratorium/tax waiver to the proposed carrier, saying that it amounted to exposing carriers to the volatility of the business.

In an interview, industry analyst and Head Strategy, Zenith Travels, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, identified carry over controversies over the proposed national carrier and the determination to implement the sector's roadmap as part of the uncertainties that will shape developments in the travel space in 2023.

He said 2023 appears to have optimism in the horizon, if the Federal Government could review and readjust some of the issues in the sector before the curtain draws on the administration.

Besides delivery of the proposed national...