Wole Shadare 
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Mesfin Tasew, has said 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. He noted that they had no intention to kill Nigerian carriers as erroneously bandied in the media but to setup a reliable airline, provide the service that fits the needs of the Nigerian public.
He noted that Nigerian carriers needed to be strong, stressing that these airlines could not be strong as they cannot compete. “If they cannot compete, then some of them can go out of business. It is not peculiar to air transport business, in any business where there is competition. The stronger ones will grow; the weak ones will get dwarfed,” he said.
Tasew, who spoke to journalists from Nigeria in Addis Ababa on Thursday, disclosed that because of the pedigree of Ethiopian Airlines, it was invited by the Federal Government to help it set up a national carrier in a partnership arrangement and because of the airline’s engagements it at first resisted the invitation but later agreed due to long relationship it has with Nigeria.
But while Ethiopian Airlines and the Nigerian government were preparing the shareholding, it received message that some companies and airlines in Nigeria were defaming Ethiopian Airlines and the Federal Government and had gone to court and obtained a court order to stop the establishment of Nigeria Air.
This prompted Ethiopian Airlines to want to withdraw, but the Nigerian government insisted that it should continue the process of establishing the national carrier for the most populous nation in Africa. The Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines said that until now the airline had not decided whether to continue the process to establish Nigeria Air but the Federal Government said it should continue with the groundwork until the court vacates the order and it addressed some concerns, insisting that it was not cancelling the project.
Tasew emphasised that Nigeria Air was already established before Ethiopian Airlines was invited to partner with it. He also noted that Nigerians will benefit hugely from the national carrier if eventually it is established because the federal government said that Nigeria does not have dependable airlines in the domestic and international market.
This, he said, had led to foreign airlines charging high fares on the Nigerian route and exploiting Nigerian travellers; so, government wanted strong, dependable airline with capacity, remarking that if the national carrier is established, it will help existing airlines to improve their operational standard to compete effectively in the market to the benefit of air travellers in the country.
Tasew said: “Ethiopian Airlines didn’t have any intention or plan to setup an airline in Nigeria. In May, of 2022, when I took my current responsibility (as Group CEO), a request came gfrom the Nigerian government asking ET (Ethiopian Airlines) to participate in a bid and help the Nigerian government to setup a Nigerian flag carrier. It came in writing. Initially we didn’t want to go into that.
We said we have other initiatives in other countries and we were busy. But the Nigerian government insisted that Ethiopian Airlines is an African airline, it has to help the Nigerian government in setting up the national carrier. “So, we had to respect them. We serve the Nigerian public and government by flying to four cities in Nigeria; we couldn’t say no, we cannot come and help you.
So, we had to submit proposal, we had to respect the Nigerian government. And we thought that the Nigerian government had choices, ET being one; because they had also requested other airlines in the Middle East, Europe to participate in the bid.”
