Ibom Air on Monday launched its brand new Airbus 220-300 aircraft with a flight from Ibom Airport in Uyo to the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
Onboard of the flight from Uyo to Lagos was Mr. Umo Eno, the
State Governor and some other dignitaries.
The A220 with the registration number: 5N-CDA, which arrived
at the airline’s base in Uyo on December 8, 2023, from Mirabel, Canada is the
first of 10 ordered equipment in November, 2021.
The aircraft landed at 3.45pm with the governor and his
entourage among the 133 passengers it ferried from Uyo to Lagos.
Captains Arif Jana and Adebayo Odunsi, flew the aircraft in
from Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital.
George Uriesi, Executive Director, Ibom Air, explained that
the aircraft operations took time because of the rigorous certification process
from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
He said: “You know it’s a new aeroplane in Nigeria. It’s new
for us, new for the NCAA and the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO) was also auditing this period. The NCAA followed everything to the
letter and we are happy for it also.
“It takes time to do and even after that the time, to check
out pilots took a bit of time. But, they are done with their demo flights.
Eventually, we are ready, thank God we have started today (Monday). We are
looking at the aeroplane operating, it will operate between Lagos and Abuja
from tomorrow (Tuesday) and then the second one is on its way.”
Uriesi explained further that two additional aircraft would
join the fleet of the airline in the next two months.