The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo on Tuesday announced the resumption of cargo flight operations with Saudi Arabia.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air cargo moves an estimated $6trn worth of goods, representing 35 per cent of global trade by value.
IATA, also noted that airlines transport over 52 million metric tons of goods annually.
Keyamo said, “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.
“The discussion with the State of Qatar centred around implementing our BASA to the hilt and other areas of interest.
“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.”
Keyamo also met with Qatar’s Minister of Transport Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti in Riyadh.
This move is another significant economic boost to the aviation and aerospace sector of Nigeria’s economy, barely a week after Emirate Airlines announced operational resumption on October 1, 2024, two years after suspending operations.