A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, yesterday, adjourned the hearing of the suit against the proposed new national airline, Nigeria Air, until February 13, 2023, following conflict of interest by the plaintiff airline.
In the ensuing hearing, the court was granted a counter motion by the two airline operators, against a previous claim by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) against Nigeria Air.
Plaintiffs (members of AON) immediately objected to the counter-motion and asserted that the main claim was legitimately derived from the larger AON. Therefore, the lawyer asked for an adjournment to study the development.
A bid to create a new national carrier with dominant shareholder Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has angered local airlines under AON.
The operator asked the court to terminate the national carrier deal and cancel the Air Transport License (ATL) that had been issued to Nigeria Air by the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Operators, such as Air Peace, United Nigeria, Azman, and Top Brass, stated that the company that acted as the Transaction Advisor for the transaction was incorporated in March, last year, and said that the company is related to the minister of aviation. The local airline said the ATL issued to Nigerian Air did not pass normal security clearance.
The court in November 2022 ordered all parties involved in the proposed national carrier to maintain the status quo until January 16, effectively cutting the date of the release of December as promised by the Minister of Aviation.
Additionally, defense counsel has filed a motion to transfer the case to another jurisdiction. Affidavit in support of the motion in the notice sworn by Felicia Des-Bordes, counsel for the defendants, Nigeria Air (1st defendant), Hadi Sirika (3rd defendant) and the Attorney General of the Federation (4th defendant), stating that the hearing of the suit in Lagos will increase the financial burden on the accused.