The Federal Government has announced the signing of Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) with the United States, India, Morroco and Rwanda.
A copy of the agreement which was sighted by Nairametrics showed that these air service agreements were signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on September 30, 2020, in Abuja.
The disclosure was made by the Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, through a tweet post on his official Twitter handle on Tuesday, October 6, 2020.
This development is coming after some experts had also called on the federal government to review the country’s bilateral air service agreements with some other nations in order to protect Nigeria’s interest including that of some private airlines.
Hadi Sirika in his statement tweeted, “I am glad to announce that Mr President, on behalf of Nigeria, has signed the instruments of ratification of the bilateral air service agreement between Nigeria and USA, India, Morocco as well as Rwanda.’’
The Federal Executive Council had on July 29 ratified the air transport agreement between Nigeria and the United States at its virtual meeting.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting that with the ratification, Nigeria will take advantage of the agreement to strengthen economic, social and cultural ties with the US.
A bilateral air service agreement (BASA) is an agreement between 2 countries to allow international commercial air transport services between the signatories. It is usually founded on the principle of reciprocity with airlines from both countries enjoying equal opportunities in terms of flight operations.
I am glad to announce that Mr President, on behalf of Nigeria, has signed the instruments of ratification of the bilateral air service agreement between Nigeria and USA, India, Morocco as well as Rwanda. 🇳🇬🇳🇬 🇲🇦🇷🇼🇺🇸🇮🇳🇳🇬🇳🇬🤝🤝🤝 pic.twitter.com/UHFx0VbqLW
— Hadi Abubakar Sirika (@hadisirika) October 6, 2020