- BBC Editor: Can’t Find An Airline Called Flair Aviation in the UK…
There is a growing controversy over the actual country of domicile of Flair Aviation, operators of Flair Aircraft, the alleged United Kingdom(UK) airline that reportedly breached Nigeria’s operational flight protocols during this Covid-19 crisis.
A search conducted by The New Diplomat’s reporter into the existence of Flair Aviation in the United Kingdom, the UK airline which reportedly operated a commercial flight into Nigeria on Sunday in clear violation of the country’s standing rules and guidelines on Covid-19 hit the end of the road as there was no record of such aviation company in the UK.
Also, an inquiry into Companies House, which is the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, and an executive agency and trading fund of Her Majesty’s Government did not turn up any result either.
Companies House falls under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is also a member of the Public Data Group. All forms of companies (as permitted by the United Kingdom Companies Act) are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the current Companies Act 2006.
All registered limited companies, including subsidiary, small and inactive companies, must file annual financial statements in addition to annual company returns, which are all public records. Only some registered unlimited companies (meeting certain conditions) are exempt from this requirement.
The United Kingdom has had a system of company registration since 1844. The legislation governing company registration matters is the Companies Act 2006.It is as such surprising that such an airline could not be found on the directory of Companies House.
However, investigations by The New Diplomat show that there are two Flair Aviation firms, while one is based in Edmonton, Canada, the other is based in Rueckersdorf, Germany. Interestingly, both companies have no visible ties with the United Kingdom.
Recall that Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika had earlier Sunday tweeted that “Flair Aviation, a UK company, was given approval for humanitarian operations but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights. This is callous! The craft is impounded, the crew being interrogated. There shall be a maximum penalty. Wrong time to try our resolve” a search has now shown that there is no United Kingdom Airline named Flair Aviation.
This has accordingly generated a buzz online with Will Ross, Africa Editor, British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Newsroom calling out on the Minister for further clarification.“Can’t see a company called Flair Aviation registered at Companies House in the UK. More details please,” the journalist had called on Sirika.
Adrian Blomfield, a veteran reporter with the Telegraph UK and Economist also corrected the Minister by calling his attention to the seeming error or misrepresentation. “Flair is a Canadian airline based in Edmonton, not a British one” he stated.
However, the question some have been asking is: Could it be the Minister made a typographical error as there is a record of a Flare Aviation in the United Kingdom which was incorporated in 2019? Surprisingly, the ‘Aviation Company’ does not have a website.
Meanwhile, Nigerians are upset, angry and calling for a huge sanction against “Flair Aviation”, the ‘purported UK Aviation’ company which was alleged to have operated a commercial flight into the country despite the closure of Nigerian Airspace as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID 19.
The Nigerians from various walks of life have taken to the Social Networking site, Twitter to vent their displeasure over the development. According to Fred Chukwuelobe on Twitter, it is no longer business as usual.
“That’s terrible. I’m sure the operators will learn a lesson or two and note that it’s not business as usual. Maybe they thought the officials will look the other way and get their palms greased. Sad they didn’t realize those days are gone” he wrote.
Akintunde Bello posited that a maximum penalty should be meted out to them to serve as a deterrent to others who might want to do the same thing.
“Let the maximum penalty, whatever it is, be meted out at them! They must learn not to try our resolve again, and serve as a deterrent to others with such ill intention” he wrote
On his part, Abiodun Oyinlola wants the Federal Government to impose heavy fines and serious restrictions which will make a good punishment for the terrible act. “A heavy fine and serious restrictions will make good punishment for such terrible act,” he said
Onyema Donald lamented that such incidents could not have taken place in the UK but Nigeria is seen as a country where anything goes.
“They can’t try this in the UK, but they think that Nigeria is an anyhow country. Good for them” he also wrote. Mark Abiodun expressed his disappointment at the turn of event and wants our government to do the needful
“The airline operator can’t be so audacious if not with the support of some unscrupulous elites in our country. The government should do the needful” he added.
Another user identified as Dr. Omo wants maximum sanction to be meted out to the culprit as this is a case of a breach in security which could further lead to the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Such passengers will get into the country, some of whom might be COVID-19 positive, and begin to immediately gallivant around as no one is tracing them because of the secrecy involved in their travel. Maximum sanctions should be meted on them” he wrote.
Gordian Eshiet expressed her gladness while hoping that this incident will not be defrayed under a diplomatic guise. “This sounds good. Hoping it won’t end as empty threats defrayed by diplomatic intervention by the UK government” she wrote.
It is not clear what would be the implications of this latest development on the diplomatic relations between both Nigeria and the UK should it turn out that there was indeed an official error on the part of either the minister or BBC’s editor on the subject matter.
Recall that The New Diplomat had reported on 3rd April 2020, that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA had issued a directive to all Nigerian operators and foreign operators flying into Nigeria to keep to the directives of the Nigerian airspace regulatory body.
In the letter addressed to Accountable Manager/ Country Manager, NCAA warned on strict adherence to the update on clarification on flight restriction into Nigerian due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the letter, “Further to our earlier letter on the restriction of international flights into Nigeria, we wish to inform you that the following crew rest protocols have been developed to accommodate crew operating evacuation flights of more than 6 hours, All application for evacuation flights shall be made to through appropriate embassies, all embassies shall undertake to provide transportation of flight crew to and from airports. In addition, it shall provide controlled sleeping arrangements for the rest period, which shall be in compliance with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC guidance.
“Furthermore, all operators must provide prior notification to Port Health of flight crew arrivals and departure/ repatriation to ensure screening at Point of Entry, POE while Port Health will be responsible for screening at POE while NCDC is responsible for screening and monitoring during this period of rest if necessary.”
NCAA had warned that the above protocols must be strictly and diligently respected.
can't see a company called Flair Aviation registered at Companies House in the UK. More details please
— will ross (@willintune) May 17, 2020
Recall also that on May 6, 2020, Boss Mustapha, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 announced that the closure of the country’s airports and airspace were further extended by four weeks after due consultations with experts.
It is Canadian
— Adrian Blomfield (@adrianblomfield) May 17, 2020
I was about to do a CHouse check too, you beat me to it Will. Did you do a check on the directors names from the Canadian and German one to see if they are linked to any UK businesses?
— 👸🏾Khawlah👸🏾 (@Tribe_of_Khawla) May 17, 2020
