An aviation security consultant, John Ojikutu, has urged the federal government to designate two flag carriers among Air Peace, Arik, Aero or Ibom Air, among others.

Mr Ojikutu made the recommendation on Wednesday in Lagos.

While appraising the aviation sector as Nigeria marked its 65th independence, the consultant advised that one of the private carriers could operate regional and continental, and the other, intercontinental.

According to him, the airlines, together, should not have more than 50 per cent of the shares separately from each of the designated airlines.

Mr Ojikutu stated, “The remaining shares should be for federal or state governments – 15 per cent – and the 35 per cent balance to the public via the Nigeria Exchange Ltd.

“Each of the foreign airlines should be restricted to Lagos or Abuja and not anymore to Lagos and Abuja. However, each can take a second airport from the alternative geographical location of the airport of its first choice.

“Foreign airlines can interline with domestic airlines to carry their transiting passengers to and from the airport of origin and departure.”

The consultant added that the foreign airlines must pay the domestic airlines in dollars for the transiting passengers.

He recalled that 25 years after Nigeria’s national carrier got defunct, passenger traffic, both national and international, put together, was still below 20 million, less than 10 per cent of the country’s population.

“We cannot say we have grown along with a contemporary of the 1960s and 1970s, like the Ethiopian airline.

“Something is wrong with our understanding of the sector and the development within the annual generated revenue earnings from the commercial services in 30 years.

“Even without a national carrier or flag carriers but with over 30 international carriers daily and with over 30 airports, including five of them that are international,” he said.

On his part, the General Secretary, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Abdulrasaq Saidu, said that the country urgently needed a national carrier.

Mr Saidu said liquidation of the defunct Nigerian Airways was wrong and that President Bola Tinubu should consider righting the wrong.

According to him, promoting private airline operators without a national carrier could affect Nigeria’s sustainable aviation sector.

An aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, commended the efforts of the government to improve aviation agencies and the way they operated, specifically in regulations guiding them.

Mr Ohunayo also commended states who were involved in airports initially but now venturing into airlines.

“Some of the states have invested in having airlines operating into their airports. You can see it is paying off.

“Akwa Ibom is a state you can look at now; Enugu State is doing something like that; Cross River State, and I am sure very soon, Ogun State will also be on that list.

“You saw what happened in Oyo State. The government is taking over the expansion of roads leading to the airport and the expansion of the airport itself to attract more flights to the state – that is a good one,” he said.

The experts urged private operators to consolidate and collaborate to strengthen their corporate governance and reduce operational costs. 

(NAN)