Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation, clarified his recent directive for foreign airlines to use local caterers for on-board meals from January 1, 2025.
Keyamo clarified on his X handle that telling foreign airlines to use local caterers isn’t the same as telling them to serve local food.
The Minister said foreign airlines can’t give warm food to Nigerians on outbound flights anymore.
Keyamo was adamant that we need to change this practice to help Nigeria’s economy and support local businesses.
He wrote, “This is to clarify that directing foreign airlines on outbound flights to patronize our local caterers is not the same as instructing them to serve local dishes. Our local caterers can also prepare continental dishes or any meals as per the airlines’ specifications.
“The age-old practice of bringing frozen meals from their countries and then warming and serving them on outbound flights, predominantly to our own citizens, is no longer acceptable.”
“If they expect us to trust the quality of food they bring into our country to serve our citizens, then they should also trust the process we have for vetting meals prepared by our local caterers.”
“The bottom line is that we must support our local businesses with our huge population and traffic, but other caterers from other climes should not benefit from what should essentially be to the benefit of our local economy.”