Stakeholders decry use of foreign airlines for evacuation flights

Airline operators and stakeholders in the aviation sector have decried the use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerian citizens abroad.

They asked the federal government to reverse the trend, insisting that the indigenous operators have the capacity to conduct the evacuation flights.

Daily Trust reports that the federal government, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said indigenous carriers would be contracted to evacuate Nigerians from abroad.

But Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella body of indigenous carriers said government continues to use foreign airlines for evacuation flights despite the assurance.

It said contrary to its own directive, some embassies continue to engage foreign airlines to carryout evacuation flights.

The Executive Chairman of AON, Captain Nogie Meggison, who spoke with newsmen at the Lagos airport, said the development would create the wrong impression about Nigeria and the safety of its airlines.