A STATE GOVERNMENT INSPECTING ITS OWN AIRLINE’S AIRCRAFT

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has led a delegation of state executives and members of the Ibom Air management team to a pre-delivery inspection of the airline’s third Airbus A220-300 at the Airbus production facility in Mirabel, Canada. The delegation was received by Guillaume Chevasson, Head of the A220 Programme and Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Canada. The inspection forms part of the formal acceptance process preceding delivery, after which the aircraft will be ferried to Nigeria and formally received in Akwa Ibom State before entering commercial service.

The composition of the delegation reflects the airline’s ownership. Ibom Airlines Limited is wholly owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, which makes a pre-delivery inspection a matter of direct state interest rather than a purely commercial exercise. The aircraft is the third A220-300 in the fleet and the second delivered under a firm order for ten A220s placed in 2021.

FLEET COMPOSITION AND WHAT THE A220 CHANGES

Ibom Air currently operates seven Bombardier CRJ 900s and two Airbus A220-300s, serving seven domestic destinations and Accra in Ghana. The new aircraft brings the Airbus element of the fleet to three and total fleet size to ten. The transition underway is from a regional jet fleet to a larger and longer-ranged type: the A220-300 offers materially greater capacity and range than the CRJ 900, which changes both the route economics on existing sectors and the set of destinations reachable without a technical stop.

George Uriesi, Chief Executive Officer of Ibom Air, said the inspection represented an important milestone in the fleet expansion programme and brought the airline a step closer to welcoming the aircraft to Nigeria. He said that as demand for air travel continued to grow across the airline’s markets, the focus remained on investing in modern aircraft delivering operational efficiency, reliability, safety and passenger comfort, and described the A220 as the ideal aircraft for the network strategy.

THE STATE’S STATED RATIONALE

Governor Eno said the inspection reflected the state government’s commitment to the continued growth of Ibom Air as a strategic asset for Akwa Ibom State, and that the investment aligned with the ARISE Agenda and a vision of establishing the state as a leading aviation hub supported by world-class infrastructure and a modern airline. He said the state looked forward to formally receiving the aircraft and to the economic opportunities enhanced connectivity would create for trade, tourism, investment and regional development.

Guillaume Chevasson said Airbus was honoured by Ibom Air’s trust in the company and the A220 family, describing the aircraft as suited to the airline’s fleet modernisation through its operational flexibility, fuel efficiency, passenger comfort and performance across domestic and regional networks.