Nigeria Air will begin operations this year

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured that the country’s proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air, will begin operations before the end of 2021.

Buhari disclosed this in Abuja while declaring open the third Ministerial Performance Review retreat organised to evaluate the level of progress made in the implementation of the nine priority agenda of his administration.

Buhari said the carrier was expected to commence flight operations before the end of this year, adding that the establishment of Nigeria Air was at 91 percent completion.

He also expressed joy on the certification of Lagos and Abuja international airports by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, while Kano and Port Harcourt Airports are undergoing similar certification processes.

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The president said “high-impact projects” had been implemented across the country to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

He listed progress made in the areas of agriculture, economy, infrastructure, security, health, anti-corruption among others.

Buhari told participants and guests at the retreat, including the keynote speaker and immediate past president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, that over 3,800 kilometres of roads had been constructed across the country, while 38 new aircraft were acquired for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to boost the fight against insurgency.

He added that 38.7 million Nigerians had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, representing 35 percent of the total eligible population target for vaccination.

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.