The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has backed his decision to suspend the operations of Dana Air, News About Nigeria reports.
The Minister gave his reasons for the suspension while speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme.
He disclosed that an audit report carried out under his predecessor confirmed that the airline is unhealthy to fly.
He noted that the report which was done two years ago, declared the airline unfit for operations, adding that the consistent incidents experienced by the airline before he assumed office made him call for a suspension.
He maintained that allowing operations to continue in the airline is putting the flying public at risk, stating that should anything go wrong, the Ministry will also not be spared from the rage of the public.
“I am sure you have heard consistent incidents involving Dana Air before I came into office. I am sure you heard that, at a point, on approach to the runway, the door of its (Dan Air) aircraft flew open. I am sure you know that popular incident. Who are the engineers that are supposed to look at this if the door of an aircraft flew open?
“There were internal reports before I came in under my predecessor that showed a series of infractions by the airline, and the conclusion was that they were not healthy enough to fly. What they did, how they did it before they told them to start flying again, we don’t know. While we argue back and forth about who has power, my point is that the flying public is at risk, and if any tragic incident happens, it is the Minister that would be called. Nigerians will not spare the minister,” he stated.
He added that his job as the Minister of Aviation is to supervise the airlines and ensure that they carry out their duties, and not to regulate them, and maintained that he will be doing just that.
