Yesterday, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I had separate meetings with my counterpart in Saudi Arabia, the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Saleh bin Nasser AIJasser, and the President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Al-Duailej.

I was accompanied by the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Chris Najomo, and key Directors of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development. Our discussions centred on the following:

1. The need to review our existing Bi-lateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between both countries to meet modern realities.

2. The need to review the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2015 prescribing the sharing formula of pilgrims to be airlifted by airlines of both countries yearly.

3. The slots allocations for the Nigerian airlines (flag carriers) for this year’s Hajj operations.

4. The percentage of pilgrims to be lifted by both the airlines of Saudi Arabia and Nigeria this year.

5. A number of issues concerning the operational efficiency of Nigerian Airlines for this year’s Hajj

Both teams had frank and fruitful discussions on all issues and key decisions taken regarding the Hajj have been immediately communicated to our designated airlines.