Nigerian virtual carrier Imo Air begins operations

Imo Air (Owerri) is a Nigerian virtual carrier that inaugurated scheduled commercial operations this past week.
Using MD-83 5N-SRI (msn 53020) chartered from Dana Air (9J, Lagos), Imo Air conducted its maiden flight - Lagos-Owerri, Imo State located in southeastern Nigeria.

Imo Air is owned by the Imo State government and aims to improve the region's connectivity with the rest of the country.

“We have five of these aircraft, and this is the first one that we have just acquired. We hope to go to a full blown carrier by 2018," the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, told Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper. "We have a partnership agreement with Dana, which spans about 10 years. We only gave them this aircraft for them to manage it for us because they are professional in the Nigerian aviation industry."

Aside from Imo Air, Owerri is connected to Lagos and Abuja by Air Peace (P4, Lagos), Arik Air (W3, Lagos), and Dana Air (9J, Lagos) itself.


For its part, Dana Air is involved in a number of provincial-level airlines. In September last year, it pledged to assist the government of Cross River in the establishment of Cally Air (Calabar).