Nigeria’s aviation sector is again enmeshed in another controversy over an alleged plan by an African carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) to take over Nigeria’s troubled domestic carrier, Arik Air. In the words of Dr Oluyemisi Olusola, a member of Aviation Round Table (ART): “I’m not worried about the situation at all because the money owed cannot be covered by Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian Airlines is after the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) rights with Arik and exploiting them. Looking at the alarm raised by some key players over the plan to take over the Arik Air by Ethiopian Airlines, if this is actually true, the first obvious fact that may not make the deal work out is that Arik Air before now was a strong competitor to Ethiopian Airlines and many few of the strong African carriers. Therefore, the takeover of the Nigerian carrier by Ethiopian Airlines may not bring the desire end as the sister African airline cannot love Arik Air more than itself as witnessed in the Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Nigeria deal.

Source: Ethiopian News September 07, 2017 07:41 UTC