Many Nigerians have criticised the Muhammadu Buhari administration for seeking to start a new national carrier after the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways, collapsed largely due to corruption.

Nigeria's aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, Wednesday insisted the controversial national carrier, Nigerian Air, will soon commence operations.

Mr Sirika, who briefed journalists after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, said the regulatory approval to get the national carrier flying is at the final stage.

"Nigeria Air will soon start flying, we've got the aircrafts ready, they're painted in the colours. We've crossed all the Ts and dotted the Is. We're at stage five of the AOC issuance by NCAA. Once that is done, the airline will begin to fly," Mr Sirika said.

"So there are five stages, we've done stages 1,2,3,4 and we are now at stage five, once the AOC is given, the aircraft is ready to start to fly."

When the minister was asked to be specific on the timeline, he insisted it would be 'soon'.

"Well, because the issuance of the AOC is in the hands of NCAA, but I know it will be very soon, with an emphasis on soon. So as soon as we get the AOC, then we fly," he said.

Many Nigerians have criticised the Muhammadu Buhari administration for seeking to start a new national carrier after the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways, collapsed largely due to corruption.

The government, which has only about three months in office, has, however, said the new carrier would only be partly government owned and would be managed by a private partner.

However, some local airlines in Nigeria have sued the federal government, asking the court to stop the new national carrier as it would get unfair advantages over other airlines.

The case is still in court.

On Wednesday Mr Sirika said he was not aware of any court injunction barring the commencement of Nigeria Air and so it would commence operations soon.