The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, says the implementation of the aviation roadmap will create 72,300 jobs within three years.

Mr Sirika stated this in Abuja at the third edition of the “President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration (PMB) Scorecard 2015-2023″ programme.

According to the minister, 9,100 direct jobs and 63,200 indirect jobs will be created within three years.

“The components of the roadmap include establishment of a National Carrier, development of Agro-Allied /Cargo Terminals, establishment of Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) Centre,” Mr Sirika said.

He said the road map also included establishment of an Aviation Leasing Company, development of Aerotropolis (Airport Cities), establishment of an Aerospace University and concession of five international airports at Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Kano and Port Harcourt.

Other components, he said, included designation of five international airports as Special Economic Zones, formulation of policy on remotely piloted aircraft, upgrade of AIB to a multi -modal accident investigation agency.

The minister also said the benefits of establishing a national carrier included reduction of capital flight from Nigeria, gaining optimal benefit of Bilateral Air Service Agreement and Single African Air Transport Market.

“Following the advert in the dailies and the Economist magazine for Request for Qualification (RFQ) and evaluation of both technical and financial bids, Ethiopian Airline Consortium emerged as preferred bidder.

“The next step is negotiation and finalisation of the Full Business Case (FBC) to commence operation of local and international flights soon,” he said. 

(NAN)