Over the years, Nigerian airlines have been unofficially blacklisted. As a result of this, they usually encounter difficulty in leasing aircraft from airlines across the world.
This has made the Federal Government (FG) commence a diplomatic process to assist Nigerian airlines that are facing challenges due to this blacklisting.
Nairametrics understands that the Ministry of Aviation has established diplomatic discussions with their counterparts in other countries in Europe and America with the aim of resolving the issue.
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What you should know: Under the principles of Cape Town Convention, which Nigeria is a signatory to, airlines are allowed to lease aircraft for use under some agreements but these carriers do not lease to Nigerian airlines as they are reportedly concerned about funding issues, infrastructure deficit and security challenges.
Though Nigerian carriers need aircraft leasing to survive, according to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, they often have no choice than to outrightly buy aircraft which puts a strain on them.
This issue was said to have also affected insurance and cost of aircraft spare parts as suppliers had started to increase their cost because they considered Nigeria as a high-risk country.
Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that apart from the challenges of funding and infrastructure being the reasons for the blacklist, some domestic airlines breached leasing contracts too. When this happens, news goes round and operators having known of the defaulter will not lease aircraft to the airline again.
The General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Sam Adurogboye, said the issue had been on the table for some time and was optimistic that it would be resolved.
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This move by the Federal Government is long overdue as Onyema had previously advocated for the need for government to support airlines in combating international aero politics and image laundering in order to get Nigerian airlines off the unofficial blacklist.