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Slok Air seeks foreign partner to return to Nigerian skyS lok Air is making plans to return to the Nigerian sky, about 10 years after it was grounded on the orders of the Federal Government.
Chairman of Slok Group, Dr. Orji Kalu, who spoke to aviation correspondents recently said the airline had opened talks with a foreign airline in a bid to secure a technical partnership deal that would make the airline economically viable when it eventually resumes operation in Nigeria.
In 2004, the government had grounded Slok Air less than a year after it resumed scheduled commercial operations as a domestic carrier servicing domestic routes.
Kalu described airline business as capital intensive and whose profit margin can sometimes be so thin for investors to recoup and remain afloat.
According to him, only a foreign airline with such financial and technical clout like Emirates could provide the type of partnership that Slok Air needed to resume operations in Nigeria.
“We are discussing with a foreign partner and we have not concluded yet,” Kalu said.
“It is a dicey thing. If we conclude be sure that we will bring back Slok Air. But I cannot go into Slok Air without a strong partner like Emirates; I will not,” he added.
Speaking on the United States-Africa Summit held in Washington recently, Kalu said it would provide a veritable platform for countries in Africa to draw more investment opportunities from the United States, even as he noted that the US had not done enough for Nigeria as a strategic partner.
Kalu said Nigeria should be able to leverage on her closeness with the US to boost her technological base.
“The investment forum by President Obama is a good step in the right direction and I hope its recommendations are going to be implemented and not just a talk show because we are in need of cooperation from genuine partners like America,” Kalu said.
The post Slok Air seeks foreign partner to return to Nigerian sky appeared first on The Sun News.
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