The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has asked the Federal Government to address granting multiple destinations to foreign airlines at the expense of the local operators or face litigation.
The disclosure was made by the President of AON, Alhaji Yunusa Abdulmunaf, who was represented by Mr Allen Onyema, the Vice President of AON, at the Group’s First Quarter Breakfast Business Meeting in Lagos on Thursday.
The group revealed plans to sue the Nigerian Government if it’s demand is not met, according to NAN.
What the AON said:
During the event themed ‘Economic Implications of Multiple Entry Points by Foreign Airlines Into Nigeria’ the association said, it will sue the FG if the multiple entries granted to airlines was not addressed.
He said, “We are talking about the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country, but the foreign airlines are removing billions of dollars every year from this country.
“Whereas, airlines in the country have been hassled with lots of requests on how to repatriate dollars into the system. Where am I going to get it from?
“Yet, we are creating more avenues for these things to happen by giving multiple destinations to these foreign airlines.
“All the foreign airlines that come to this country, maybe about 20 or 30 of them have not been able to employ more than 150,000 Nigerians.”
AON stated that Air Peace employs over 4,000 Nigerians, citing that foreign airlines will take 60 years of operating in Nigeria to employ such number.
Dr Gabriel Olowo, President of ART, said “The damages of multiple entries into Nigeria is huge. Britain for instance has 21 flights into Nigeria weekly.
“European Unions have 43 frequencies every week into Nigeria. Also the Middle East has 56 flights weekly into multiple entries into Nigeria” adding that the local sector has been negatively impacted by foreign competition.”
Recall Nairametrics reported in February that The Joint National Assembly Committee on Aviation warned that if local airlines are no longer able to manage their fleet and stop flight delays, it will invite foreign airlines to run the domestic services.
