BOEING OFFICIAL ON NIGERIA'S LACK OF AIR SAFETY

UNCLAS ABUJA 000651 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DOT PASS TO FAA DAKAR PASS TO FAA REP ED JONES ROME PASS TO TSA REP JOHN HALINSKI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR CASC ASEC AMGT NI SUBJECT: BOEING OFFICIAL ON NIGERIA'S LACK OF AIR SAFETY ¶1. (U) Ambassador and embassy officers met March 16 in Abuja with Chamsou Andjorin, the Boeing International Corporation's executive director, international relations, for West and Central Africa; and Philip de St. Aubin, Boeing's vice president, international relations, for Africa. ¶2. (SBU) De St. Aubin said Boeing's No. 1 concern with Africa was the continent's deficient aviation safety record. If Nigeria wanted to solve this problem domestically, it must be willing to spend the money to do so. Nigeria's aviation industry must undergo drastic consolidation, because operating safe aircraft was expensive and it was not economical or safe for many Nigerian airlines to operate with only two to four aircraft. A fair number of Nigeria's airlines were owned by "amateurs," some of whom did so for reasons of prestige. ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador agreed with this assessment and urged Boeing to continue pushing the Government of Nigeria on the issues of air safety and providing an improved aviation infrastructure. De St. Aubin pledged that Boeing would continue to do so. CAMPBELL