Chief Executive Officer of British Airways (BA), Mr Keith Williams, says the company will partner the Federal Government to ensure its Transformation Agenda succeeds especially in the aviation sector.
Williams stated this on Thursday while fielding questions from State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He described Nigeria as an important market for British Airways, saying that the company had operated in Nigeria for 76 years.
“The Transformation Programme has to grow the economy and British Airways is an airline that supports the growth of that economy through air travels.
“So, as the Nigeria’s economy grows the British Airways will grow with Nigeria.
“British Airways has served Nigeria now for 76 years and we get a great partnership with Nigeria which has been a long one and an important one and it will always continue to be an important one? and the British Airways supports that.”
According to him, Nigeria has huge domestic and international markets for the growth of aviation industry and BA will explore the market for the general good of Nigeria and airline.
?“Nigeria, is a huge important country with a huge population. It has got important trade flows and the airlines need to support those important trade flows either through Nigerian airlines or International airlines.”
The BA chief executive expressed satisfaction with the way and manner the aviation sector was being managed in Nigeria.
He, however, said that Nigeria needed to build its domestic and regional aviation industry.
Williams described the ongoing merger activities between world leading airlines as a welcome development for the global growth of the aviation industry.
?“The aviation industry, if I look at the global aviation industry, the global aviation is in a period of change and what we are seeing around the world is the growth of cooperation, and that is in British Airways case, which merges with Iberia, tying up with an American and the Japanese airlines.
“So, these are lots of merger activities happening to support global growth in the airline industry, and clearly, Nigeria is a huge important country with a huge population and it got important trade flows and the airlines need to support those important trade flows whether that is through Nigerian airlines or International airlines.”
He said? BA would continue to meet its socio-economic obligations to Nigeria to further enhance its corporate responsibility in the country.
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