Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation rejected three of the six Nigerian carriers shortlisted to airlift pilgrims for the 2016 Hajj, leaving Med-View Airline, Max Air and the Saudi carrier Fly Nas as the approved operators for that year's pilgrimage. The decision followed a rigorous selection process involving both the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and the Saudi authority, after nine airlines and four excess-luggage carriers had originally entered the bidding process in Abuja earlier in the year.
The rejection reopened a long-simmering dispute rooted in a bilateral agreement signed between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia in 2010, which required that the total number of pilgrims allocated to Nigeria each year be split evenly between Nigerian air carriers and Saudi Arabian Airlines or its designated carrier. Saudi officials pressed for strict implementation of that fifty-fifty arrangement ahead of the 2016 season, a demand that squeezed out several of the smaller Nigerian operators that had hoped to participate.
NAHCON's Appeal
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria appealed to the federal government to extend logistical and consular support to the approved carriers, and called on Saudi authorities to ensure prompt visa issuance for airline officials and for officers of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority who would be needed to support that year's operation. The commission framed the dispute as part of a longer-running struggle over Nigeria's share of its own pilgrim traffic.
A Recurring Fault Line
The episode highlighted how Nigeria's lucrative but tightly regulated Hajj charter market remained subject to diplomatic negotiation each year, with airlines investing heavily in widebody aircraft, as Med-View's Boeing 777 and 747 additions that same year showed, only to face uncertainty over whether they would ultimately be cleared to fly. For the carriers left off the final 2016 list, the rejection meant a lost season of one of the most commercially important charter markets in Nigerian aviation.