NIGERIA ON ICAO RESOLUTION AND AVIATION INSURANCE

UNCLAS ABUJA 002415

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ASEC ATRN NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA ON ICAO RESOLUTION AND AVIATION INSURANCE


REF: (A) STATE 162488 (B) STATE 163307 (C) STATE 159498


Sensitive but Unclassified, please protect accordingly.



1. On September 20 and 21, Econoff delivered Ref A and B
demarches to Assistant Director M.K. Ibrahim of the
International Organizations Department, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and separately to Chief Owodu, Technical Advisor to
the Minister of Aviation. Ref C information was delivered
September 17 to the Ministers of Aviation and Foreign Affairs.



2. Regarding the ICAO resolution (ref A),Ibrahim commented
that the Secretariat's language was not controversial. He
expected that the GON could fully support the resolution,
although first the proposal would need to go through the
appropriate channels. Ministry of Aviation's Chief Owodu
indicated he would be supportive of an ICAO resolution
condemning the attacks. Owodu said that he was leaving
tomorrow (September 22) for the ICAO General Assembly and
would review the draft language prior to leaving.



3. On the aviation insurance crisis (ref B),Chief Owodu did
not believe that Nigeria would be immediately affected by the
rise in insurance premiums. The international flights,
except those within the sub-region, use aircraft owned by
Nigeria Airways' joint venture partners. However, he noted,
for the Lagos-New York flight, Nigeria Airways would need to
sit down with South Africa Airways and work out how these
costs might be shared. Owodu was grateful for the
information and interested to learn about the options being
considered in the United States. Owodu said this information
would help inform the Ministry on how to approach this issue
with Nigerian carriers.



4. In response to the information on changes to aviation
insurance polices, Assistant Director Ibrahim said that he
had anticipated something like this would happen. He worried
that this crisis would be used as an excuse for the EU and
U.S. to subsidize domestic carriers, complicating
international discussions on competition policy and trade in
services.
Andrews