The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has clarified his recent directive urging foreign airlines to use local caterers for onboard meals on outbound flights from Nigeria.
Taking to his social media account on Wednesday, Keyamo explained that the directive, effective January 1, 2025, does not require foreign airlines to serve Nigerian dishes, but rather to source meals from local caterers who can prepare a variety of cuisines, including continental options, based on airline specifications.
Keyamo stated that this is a shift away from the current practice of airlines importing pre-prepared, frozen meals from abroad to serve on outbound flights, News About Nigeria reports.
He assured airlines that Nigerian agencies would oversee quality control and hygiene and would address potential concerns about meal standards.
The minister added that supporting local caterers aligns with the government’s goal to stimulate Nigeria’s economy and ensure that the nation’s resources benefit local businesses.
“This is to clarify that directing foreign airlines on out-bound flights to patronise our local caterers is not the same thing as directing them to serve local dishes.
“Our local caterers can also prepare continental dishes or anyone for that matter according to their own specification,” the minister clarified.
According to te minister, “the age-long practice of bringing their meals frozen from their different countries and then warming and serving them on their outbound flights to mostly our own citizens is no longer acceptable.”
He said, “We also have quality control agencies to supervise the hygienic nature of those meals, if that is their concern.
“On the flip side, if they want us to trust the quality of the food they bring into our country to serve our own citizens, then they also should trust our own process of vetting those meals made by our local caterers.
“The bottom line is that we must support our local businesses with our huge population and traffic, but other caterers from other climes should not benefit from what should essentially be to the benefit of our local economy.”
