The federal government has approved the lease of three aircraft for initial operations of the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air.

This is a boost to the process of establishing the new national carrier, which has been in the process for over seven years now.

Special assistant on public affairs to the Minister of Aviation, James Odaudu, said in a statement on Wednesday night, that the aircraft will be procured from Airbus and Boeing.

According to him, the approval by the federal government also indicated that the national carrier would begin operations with domestic routes.

Odaudu said the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, made the disclosure after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said Sirika announced that the airline would begin with domestic routes, then expand to regional and intercontinental routes.

He, however, did not specify the actual date for the take-off of the airline operations.

On the likely date for the commencement of operations, Sirika was quoted as saying, "We will announce commencement soon."