Minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo has said that foreign airlines operating in Nigeria are not mandated to serve local dishes on outbound flights.
Gatekeepers News reports that Keyamo’s wife made the statement through a statement posted on his X account on Tuesday.
The statement came after a directive instructing foreign airlines to patronise local caterers for on-board meals was issued on Tuesday.
Keyamo noted that the airlines must patronise local caterers, who are fully equipped to prepare continental or other specified meals based on the airlines’ requirements.
He said, “This is to clarify that directing foreign airlines on out-bound flights to patronise our local caterers is not the same thing as directing them to serve local dishes.0
“Our local caterers can also prepare continental dishes or anyone for that matter ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN SPECIFICATION.”
The minister criticised the long-standing practice of airlines bringing frozen meals from other countries and reheating them for Nigerian passengers on outbound flights, noting that the method is not acceptable again.
Keyamo reassured airlines that Nigeria has quality control agencies in place to monitor the hygiene and safety standards of meals prepared by local caterers.
He said, “On the flip side, if they want us to trust the quality of the food they bring into our country to serve our own citizens, then they also should trust our own process of vetting those meals made by our local caterers.”
“The bottom line is that we must support our local businesses with our huge population and traffic.”
Keyamo further said that foreign caterers should not benefit from opportunities that are meant to primarily support Nigerian economy.
