The Akwa Ibom government-owned airline is set to commence flying to seven African countries as it plans to expand the brand.
The group manager, marketing and communications, Aniekan Essien-Ette, said this in Uyo, during interaction with journalists. She said the African countries include Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gabon and Gambia.
Essien-Ette said flights to the African countries will commence depending on the airline’s capacity when two new aircraft arrive later this year.
“The plan for 2023, we plan to open international routes, going step by step. When we finish the local flights, we will turn to international routes. It is a world-class operator as an African regional airline,’’ she said.
She said Ibom Air ordered ten new airbuses. She also added that, due to the crunch in the global supply chain, it is difficult for the aircraft to arrive. She was optimistic the airline will take delivery of 10 new airbuses between 2023 and 2025.
“We started with three aircraft, later we had two. Later we went ahead to place an order for 10 aircraft. For a stop-gap purpose, EgyptAir had airbuses that they did not use. They gave two for us on a wet lease agreement.”
“We can’t allocate such authority to us, it was based on forces of the market, there is no way any airline has the power to stop another airline from operating at Ibom airport. Competition is good for us, it keeps us on our toes, it helps us to know how we are doing,’’
“We are focused on maintaining the brand, we work 24 hours a day, we keep our eyes constantly on the ball, we are passionate about the dream handed down to us, and we will protect it, though in working with machines, we do have snags once in a while.”
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