The concept of a flag carrier or national airline, gained currency in 1944 at the Chicago Convention, following an agreement by representatives from 54 countries present at that event.
From the agreements reached at the convention, and by the generally acceptable definition of national carrier as espoused by the house, two key factors stood out in bold relief: “substantially owned and effectively controlled by citizens and nationals of the country.”
For many years this definition held sway until new interpretations of “substantially owned and control” began to emerge on the horizon and those phrases have now acquired new meanings and interpretations; countries and various aviation communities of interest have now begun to interpret this rule to match their various economic realities.
I shall attempt as time permits, to clear our doubts on Nigeria Air’ business ownership model and how it is an amalgam of both the Chicago agreement on national airline ownership rule and the new global airline ownership trends across continents. I must reiterate
at once that, the action of the Nigerian government in accepting a paltry 5% ownership, is a very legitimate one and it is in tandem with global best practice which I shall attempt to justify using case studies and parallels.
I must emphatically state here that, there is nothing wrong with the choice of an Ethiopian Airline as partners- as there are easily discernible reasons to justify them as worthy partners in this venture. Their record as the most successful Africa national airline is a fact that cannot be challenged.
Friends, I have studied deeply the 14 misconceptions and fallacies about Nigerian Air by AON and others, which I have addressed in this document …but first, I would like to ask for your patience and understanding. Know this: the most powerful forces in the universe they say, are silent forces and becomes beneficent when rightly directed and destructive when wrongly employed.
To ignore the silent forces being carefully marshalled by the most rabid critics of the Nigeria Air project is to deny their effectiveness in helping build a strong determination in those tasked with the delivery of the project to do –the right thing.
‘Substantially owned’ in all its varieties means: ownership of more than 50% interest and that means that Nigeria has passed the ownership test by Chicago agreement standard because, Nigeria and Nigerians own 51% of Nigeria Air -citizens and the government of Nigeria.
AIRLINE OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL-.
Europe has been in the forefront of this battle against ownership and control imposed on airlines by the Chicago convention and believes that where nations are able to ensure that all complimentary national safeguards have been be adhered to and, such relationships portend great benefits, the bars should be lowered to accommodate honorable interests.
Significant reduction of government interest in airline ownership as in the case of
Nigeria air is such a good example of where the world is going now because:
The reduction of government interests in the airline would allow for increased access by airline to capital because the airlines would be playing in a highly competitive and expansive market where constant capital injection would be required to gain substantial market shares.
WHY Ethiopian?
1. 70 years of highly successful operation in air transport
2. Instant Connectivity with Africa and the rest of the world: South, East, West, North and Central Africa.
3. Leadership in aviation technology
4. MRO
5. Over 240 flights per day across Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia and north America
6. Aircrafts of various types in their numbers
7. 10 years and counting, as the most profitable airline in Africa.
This is an impeccable pedigree in Africa where airlines die with the first 5 years. We must learn to also fix attention on peoples strength.
The glass that is always half empty to some people, is always half full to others
To be continued…
(This is part of a contribution by Dr Young, an aviation trainer and Public Affairs commentator, to an ongoing discourse on Nigeria’s national carrier)
