Hadi Sirika, minister of state for aviation, says the FG is not paying $300 million for a 5% stake in Nigeria Air.
In responses to questions raised about the national carrier which was launched on Wednesday, July 18, Sirika said the government is providing startup capital for the airline.
“The government is not funding the entire project. It’s just providing startup capital in the form of an upfront grant/viability gap funding. .
Once the strategic equity investor is in place, they will be expected to build on the initial investment made,” he said.
He added that in order to make indigenous airlines viable, the FG has commenced moves that would compel any public servant travelling on a ticket bought with public funds to travel on a Nigerian carrier.
According to the Minister, the government is making moves to have the National Assembly pass a ‘Fly Nigeria Act’ in order to achieve this target.
The minister also declared that it was false to state that Nigeria Air lacked a domain name, adding that those who wanted to steal the airline’s domain name would not get a kobo from the FG, as www.flynigeriaair.ng is already secured.