For a few weeks now, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari and his aviation minister have insisted that Nigeria Air, a new national carrier first announced in 2018, will begin operations this year with flights between Lagos and Abuja. The government scored a major win in September by getting Ethiopia Airlines to buy a 49% stake and be the carrier’s technical partner.
But the project’s take-off is being opposed by local airlines that say they were not “carried along” in the process…