Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced that cargo flight operations between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia are set to resume after years of inactivity.
This was disclosed by Keyamo via a post on his official X account on Tuesday.
Keyamo said that, on the sidelines of the ongoing Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he had a discussion with the Minister of Transport and Logistics for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saleh Al Jasser, about the resumption of cargo flights.
The report also stated that the two sides had agreed to resume cargo transport between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, with a focal person being appointed for this purpose.
Air cargo moves over $6 trillion worth of goods, representing approximately 35% of world trade by value, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“Yesterday, at the sidelines of the ongoing Future Aviation Forum (FAF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I met my counterparts from the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“With the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the discussion was about the resumption of cargo flight operations between both countries that had gone comatose over the years. Both sides agreed to resume the operations and appointed focal persons to work out the modalities,” the post read in part.
Keyamo’s post noted that he met with Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti, Qatar’s Minister of Transport, at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh. They discussed implementing the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) and other mutual interests.
The Aviation Minister has repeatedly emphasized that one of his main focuses is to review and ensure compliance with Nigeria’s BASA arrangements, as unfavourable agreements have negatively impacted Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Recall Emirate Airline recently announced the resumption of the airline’s services to Nigeria on October 1, 2024.
Emirates Airline had, in October 2022, suspended flight operations to Nigeria due to its inability to repatriate trapped funds in the country.
