Allen Onyema, has berated the federal government of Nigeria over what he called preferential treatment for foreign airlines on Nigerian at the detriment of the local operators.
Onyema is the Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace.
He made the assertion while speaking on AriseNews Channel’s The Morning Show on Friday
Onyema, acknowledged a landmark deal recently signed by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the South African Civil Aviation Authority.
The Airpeace Boss, however, agreed the pact will aid aviation development in Africa.
In his statement:“Before now, if you’re a pilot in South Africa, you come to Nigeria, you start all over, validation and all sort of things takes time but what they’ve just done will help aviation development in Africa and we encourage other African countries to take a cue from this to make Aviation business easier.”
Onyema further commended President Bola Tinubu administration for initiating a smooth relationship between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
He described the feat as a landmark achievement and encouraged the federal government to sustain the relationship.
Onyema urged the government to look into what is happening to Nigerian airlines trapped funds in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Speaking on the topic:“On the aviation side, charity begins at home. It is true that there are issues of trapped funds in Nigeria, but the local airlines also have trapped funds in the Central Bank.
“All the foreign airlines, about thirty something of them, coming to Nigeria, put together do not have up to 100 staff. But most of us have about 6,000 workforce, creating jobs and moving the country.
“Nigerian airlines are not weak. What they lack is truthful government support. That’s all,” Onyema stated.
Stressing further: “Together with unscrupulous Nigerian government officials, many countries prevent Nigerian airlines from accessing their airspace.
“How could a foreign airline take off from its country, land in Abuja, drop passengers and take off from Abuja, go to Port Harcourt and drop passengers then take passengers from Port Harcourt and drop passengers again, then go back to its country? It is not done anywhere in the world.
“How do you grow the local airlines if you don’t allow them? Nigerian airlines need government support to succeed,” Onyema added.
