Opinion: Nigeria needs a national airline that works, not another revival

This is an opinion piece. The views are those of the Jogos Editorial Team.

When the Senate rejected a proposal to revive Nigeria Airways this week, Senate President Godswill Akpabio put it bluntly: “We can’t revive what is already dead.” Vanguard reported that the Senate instead asked the government to build a new, viable national carrier.

On the first point, the Senate is right. On the second, Nigerians have heard this before.

A history of false starts

Nigeria Airways stopped flying in 2003. Since then, the country has tried more than once to launch a flag carrier. The most recent attempt, Nigeria Air, was unveiled in May 2023 with a borrowed aircraft and has not flown commercial services since. Each attempt has burned money and public trust.

The lesson is not that Nigeria cannot have a great airline. Ethiopian Airlines, owned by the Ethiopian state, is Africa’s largest carrier and turns a profit. The lesson is that how an airline is run matters more than who owns it.

What a working national carrier needs

• Independent management. Board members and executives chosen for aviation experience, not political loyalty, and protected from interference.
• A real business plan. Routes chosen because they make money, starting with the ones Nigerians already fly in large numbers: London, Houston, Dubai, Johannesburg and, as the Senate notes, China.
• Private capital. A partner with skin in the game is the best guard against waste.
• Fair treatment for existing airlines. Nigerian private carriers such as Air Peace already fly international routes. A national carrier should not crowd them out with special favours.
• Transparency. Publish the accounts. Taxpayers have a right to know.

The China opportunity

The Senate’s call for direct flights to China shows where the demand is. Thousands of traders fly to China every year through foreign hubs. A Nigerian airline serving that route well could earn its keep.

But that opportunity will be wasted if the next national carrier is launched for a ribbon-cutting rather than for passengers. Let this be the time Nigeria gets it right.

Have a view? Write to us at editor@jogosmedia.com.