Air Nigeria will this year buy four new aircraft as it expands its operations and opens new routes to Europe, America and Africa.
Air Nigeria’s Managing Director Kinfe Kahssaye said that his airline plans to introduce two Airbus A330-200 and two Boeing 737NG aircraft. Each aircraft will cost around US$70 million. At the moment Air Nigeria has a fleet of 11 aircraft.
According to Nigeria’s The Nation, the new aircraft will be used on a variety of new routes, including to the United Kingdom, Johannesburg, Dubai, Benin, Calabar and Uyo. Air Nigeria intends launching new routes in the first quarter of this year and will continue expanding its network over the next five years.
From its operational base at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Air Nigeria currently flies to Benin City, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Sokoto and Enugu on domestic routes. It also flies to Brazzaville, Accra, Douala, Dakar, Monrovia, Cotonou, Banjul, Libreville, Abidjan and Sao Tome & Principe.
“The year has been good not only for Air Nigeria, but for other domestic airlines,” said Kahssaye. “Last year, none of the airlines had a serious incident, unlike in the past. We should give kudos to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that properly monitored the sector and ensured that the right things were done.”
Air Nigeria is going through a major expansion phase following the relaunch of the airline. In 2010 Nigerian tycoon Jimoh Ibrahim relaunched the loss-making Nigerian Eagle Airlines as Air Nigeria, pledging to make it profitable.
Between 2005 and 2009 the airline made a loss of US$370 million but, according to Kahssaye, thanks to more funding and new management, Air Nigeria is on the way to becoming profitable.
Before the turn-around, Air Nigeria had only five aircraft in its fleet, but currently has 11. It most recently took delivery of a Boeing 737-400 in August last year, bringing its fleet to nine 737s and two Embraer 190 regional aircraft.
The arrival of the new aircraft came on the heels of Air Nigeria’s first flight to the US as part of its code sharing agreement with Delta Airlines. The agreement allows the two carriers to operate direct flights between Lagos and Abuja to Atlanta, Georgia.
In August 2010 Nigerian airlines gained the right to fly their own aircraft to the United States after an improvement in the West African nation’s aviation safety standards. Airline security in Africa’s most populous country had come under heightened scrutiny in December 2009 following a failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a US airliner blamed on a Nigerian passenger with explosives concealed in his underwear.
Kahssaye said that some of the airline’s expansion plans include building a maintenance hangar next year, but he warned that the airline does face challenges, including high customs duties on imported spares, the high cost of fuel (which accounts for up to 50% of operating expenses) and slim profit margins (around 1%).
