United Nigeria Airlines begins regional operation next 12 months
From a humble beginning that started with demo flights in January 2021, United Nigeria Airlines has gradually become a strong competitor on the domestic airspace and is setting sight on the West African region.
The airline, which deployed a simple business strategy with four small-bodied aircraft – Embraer 145 – to start operation last year, said it has airlifted 260,000 passengers within the period with 40 daily flights to different destinations, representing 75 per cent of its total capacity..
Speaking with the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos today – February 9, 2022 – to mark its first year in operation, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Chief Obiora Okonkwo, said the airline was working on an expansion growth plan that will see it increase its fleet and staff strength.
“Going forward gentlemen, we intend to increase our fleet and add wider body aircraft. Our plan here is to grow at our own pace. We plan that within the next 12 months, we see ourselves doubling the number of our fleets with larger passenger capacity aircraft.
“This is because it was our strategic plan to start with smaller body aircraft with 50 passenger capacity to develop and strengthen our operations. Having achieved that, we are now ready to introduce bigger body aircraft as add-ons.
“Hopefully, we will add two aircrafts every quarter till the end of the year. That will give us the opportunity to expand our operations even beyond our borders.
“With the expansion of our fleets comes the extension of our operations into the West Coast region and then, obviously, continental. This also comes with the strengthening of our staff strength and our capacity in the area of human power. These are the things we are going to do because we need strong human resources to be able to deliver decent services within this expansion projection,” said Chief Okonkwo.
The growth plan, according to Okonkwo, will also include building a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) plant in Enugu, the airline’s hub, with a view to creating more job opportunities for Nigerians.
“We also look forward to establishing an MRO in Enugu. We are already in talks with the regulatory authorities and the Enugu state government on this. In fact, the state governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has welcomed us with great enthusiasm and is also working hard to ensure that our plans of establishing the first MRO in the southeast come to fruition. We can’t wait to see that project off the table.
“The choice of Enugu for our MRO is strategic. Enugu is the heart of the southeast region and that is also the home of United Nigeria Airlines. In fact, in the next few weeks, many of our operations staff, who ought to work from the headquarters, will commence relocation to Enugu. That also solidifies our presence in the state and pushes us closer to achieving our target of setting up an MRO.
“We are in talks with critical partners for the construction and operationalization of the project. I am also excited about the project because of the jobs that would be created through it and the specialization it would engender.
“So, all of us at United Nigeria Airlines are eagerly looking forward to the foundation laying ceremony for the construction of our MRO in Enugu. I guess you all will be available to witness it when that becomes a reality.
