Despite a court ruling prohibiting it, the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, has fought against the launch of Nigeria Air before its May 29 inauguration.
Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, an AON spokesperson, revealed this on Thursday.
His response was in response to Hadi Sirika, the aviation minister, saying on Wednesday that a Nigeria Air jet will arrive in the nation on Friday and start operating before May 29.
The federal government was challenged by AON in court over Nigeria Air's shareholding structure, and AON claimed that the minister's comments and actions "are in flagrant disobedience of the orders of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, which halted the said moves by the minister to float the said airline until the determination of the substantive suit brought by AON against it."
According to Okonkwo, Nigeria Air, in which Ethiopia Airlines owns a significant share, will harm the Nigerian economy and eliminate millions of current jobs.
The government announced Nigeria Air as a potential national carrier in July 2018; nonetheless, there have been multiple missed start-up dates.