By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has revealed some challenges Airline Operators of Nigeria face to stay in business.
The Minister said an airline ordered 13 brand-new planes but only received five from the manufacturer.
He further said the five aircraft that were delivered were found to be defective a few months after usage.
The minister, who did not mention the name of the airline and the manufacturer, said efforts are ongoing by the federal government to get a replacement from the aircraft manufacturer before the end of 2026.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday, Keyamo said, “Without mentioning names, there’s a particular airline in this country that ordered 13 brand new planes, not secondhand, and the manufacturers delivered five of those aircraft. They operated them for only one or two months, and they discovered that they had engine problems and manufacturer defects.
“Without mentioning the aircraft manufacturers and the airline involved. Look at that kind of problem. The airline is also very circumspect; it didn’t want to cry out to also run down those manufacturers, but we are all working very hard behind the scenes.
“Government has to come, we have come into that problem to say, can you please give them some wet lease first because based on this projection of 13 new aircraft, they had rolled out new local and regional routes they want to fly, they sold tickets ahead.
“They discovered a manufacturer’s defect, and guess what? They could have continued flying because it’s not that they are not flying; those aircraft are flying, but at great risk. Once they discovered that there was a problem with the engine, they grounded all of them for the safety of Nigerians.
“NCAA insisted that for the safety of Nigerians, ground those aircraft so that we don’t have any disaster, but the public doesn’t know this”.
On efforts made to resolve the case, the minister said: “We are working hard behind the scenes. We have reached out to the government of that country involved and to the manufacturers involved to say, look, do something. And they have rolled out a program to replace those aircraft between now and the end of 2026.
“Just imagine what those 13 aircraft would have done to our local routes. So, these are problems behind the scenes that we are all struggling with”.
“So instead of the government throwing them (airline operators) under the bus to say, go and solve your problem, we are taking ownership to say, let us help them solve this problem. And that is what the government should do. So, we understand the problems with Nigerian people, but we are also working hard behind the scenes to ensure that we also support our local airlines.