Canada evacuation: Use of Ethiopian Airline unacceptable - House of Rep

The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji has warned that any attempt to use foreign airline to evacuate stranded Nigerians from Canada would not be condoned by the House.

Nnaji who was reacting to the persistent refusal of the Canadian Authorities to grant Air Peace airline landing rights for the evacuation of stranded Nigerians in Canada said the position of the House of Representatives was very clear on the issue of evacuation flights.

He explained that the House in adopting the motion on the use of foreign airlines for evacuation of stranded Nigerians in other countries,Tuesday, May 12, 2020 had urged the President to direct the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Aviation,the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and the Presidential Task Force, (PTF) on COVID-19 as well as all relevant Ministerial Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) to ensure that Nigerian Airlines enjoy the right of first refusal in all circumstances where Nigerians need to be evacuated from other countries.

Nnaji insisted that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Aviation and indeed the COVID-19 task force must explore all available diplomatic channels to ensure that a Nigerian airline operate the evacuation flight out of Canada.

The Canadian Government was alleged to have given preference to Ethiopian Airline for evacuation of stranded Nigerians desiring to come home as against the Air Peace which the taskforce has already engaged for the evacuation.

Air Peace is charging USD$1,134 per passenger as against the sum of USD$2,500 charged by the Ethiopian Airline.

The Aviation Committee Chairman observed that Canadian Authorities had no reason to deny Air Peace landing right since available records had shown that the airline has the requite certification and approvals to operate internationally.

He further emphasized that findings have shown that Air Peace is International Air Transport Association’s Safety Oversight Audit, (IOSA) certified which is a major international parameter for measuring airlines’ safety standards.

Nnaji also noted that there was need for the Canadian Government to treat the flight as a special emergency occasioned by corona virus pandemic and immediately grant the necessary approvals to Air Peace.

Meanwhile, the committee has summoned the COVID-19 taskforce an the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Aviation and agencies directly or indirectly involved in the earlier evacuation flights handled by the British Airways, Emirates and Ethiopian Airlines from the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and America to appear before it on Thursday, May 28, 2020.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.