Ethiopian Airlines has finally broken its silence over its involvement in the controversial Nigeria Air project launched by the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The largest airline in Africa through its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mesfin Tasew disclosed that the airline was almost withdrawing from the deal but it was prevailed upon by the federal government.
Former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika had floated the airline on May 27, which did not see the light of the day as it was later discovered that an aircraft belonging to Ethopian Airline was used to conduct a demonstration flight against the dictate of the process for the establishment of a new airline.
But in an interview with some Nigerian journalists in Addis Ababa with the transcript sent to Dailytrust, the Airline’s CEO stated that the East African carrier never had any plan to set up an airline in Nigeria but was invited by the federal government to partner with it to establish a national carrier, Nigeria Air.
Tasew added that in May of 2022, when he assumed hia current responsibility (as Group CEO), a request came from the Nigerian government asking Ethiopian Airlines to participate in a bid and help the Nigerian government to set up a Nigerian flag carrier.
He added that the Ethopian Airline could not say no because of respect to the Nigerian Government.
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