Management of Med-view airline has commended the swift action taken by the Federal Government to stop the ploy by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, UAE to frustrate the airline from operating into its prestigious terminal one.
Chief Executive Officer, Med-view airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole who gave the commendation at the decoration of its pilots to captains in Lagos, said some countries give Nigerian operators hard time because they want to support their own airlines.
He noted that the journey into Dubai was not an easy one last year, adding that after completing the processes and signing of contracts geared towards the commencement of flights with the help of Nigeria’s ambassador and consul General, the Dubai authority informed them that due to lack of space in the terminal one, their operations would be moved elsewhere.
Bankole said,” we courageously reject the offer, we said No, if you can have a free ride in our country, you fly to Abuja, you fly to Lagos, you run one zero two flights and nobody challenges you, I said I think I better let the government know what is happening, so I wrote to the government and we are proud to tell you here, being a sincere, committed nation, the government wrote a strong letter directing the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA that the law of reciprocity should be applied, they wrote that Medview is our own and stand in the position of emirates. Thank God, the Dubai authority listened and they gave Med-view terminal one the best in the airport same as Emirates, our government, our able minister, the DG NCAA, all of them fought the battle”.
Alhaji Bankole also noted that their operations into London had not been an easy one too as there had been a lot of challenges from the authorities.
According to him, “London has been a very big challenge as you know the big boys are there, we are young, we are small they should allow the young ones to grow, we are appealing to them so that in future we can write a history, we are not competing with them but we are doing our own the way we know how to do it which they cannot take away from us”.
During the event which was also met to celebrate its partners, Bankole also disclosed that the airline has achieved great success in its operations both in hajj with the airlift of of over 365,000 pilgrims and in scheduled operations.
In the new year, the airline is to commence flights into Lisbon, Jo’burg and the United States, Washington, Huston,Texas with four frequencies in summer.
On the 27th of October, the airline is also start operations into some Francophone countries to integrate the West Africa region.
Highlight of the event was the decoration of 3 pilots to captains and a first officer. These include: Captains Jika Keghtor, Kambinda Ayub and Williams Inyang while Eguare Oziegbe as first officers.
