FLEET - Ibom Air Takes delivery of Two New Bombardier CRJ 900 Next-Gen Aircraft

Ibom Air's two new Bombardier CRJ 900 next-generation aircraft, registered as 5N-CED and 5N-CEE

Ibom Air now operates a total of nine aircraft, including two Airbus A220-300s and seven CRJ 900s, We eagerly await the deliveries of our nine remaining Airbus A220-300s over the next three years.

FLEET - Ibom Air is looking to transition to an all-A220 fleet to expand its intra-African operations

A third A220 is scheduled to arrive in 2025, followed by two in 2026, three in 2027 and three in 2028. The carrier also took delivery of two additional CRJ900s at the beginning of November 2024, because there were no A220s available.

Photo: IBOM AIR

 

FLEET - Ibom Air (Nigeria) is expecting up to ten A220-300s, with the second, serial 55089, delivering on lease in June 2024.

The new aircraft will allow the carrier to phase out its five CRJ900s by 2027.

 

FLEET - Ibom Air (Nigeria) launched its A220-300 for commercial service, connecting Uyo to Lagos.

 

FLEET - Ibom Air takes delivery of its brand new Airbus A220-300

Ibom Air on November 24 received its first brand new Airbus A220-300 (5N-CDA) in Mirabel, Canada.

 

FLEET - Nigeria's Ibom Air now expects first A220 in mid-4Q23

Ibom Air (QI, Uyo) now expects delivery of the first of ten in-house A220-300s from November 2023, according to Chief Commercial Officer George Uriesi.
The aircraft will be delivered in batches, with the first three expected by October 2024 and the remaining every quarter, he earlier told ch-aviation.
Speaking at a news briefing at the Aviation Africa 2023 summit in Abuja, Uriesi explained that Ibom Air had faced a capacity crunch in the first half of 2021. To address this, it explored options for larger aircraft and eventually chose the A220. As a quick go-to-market strategy, Airbus assisted Ibom Air in securing two A220-300s from EgyptAir (MS, Cairo International) on a one-year wet lease, which commenced on June 30, 2021. This gave the airline a chance to "test" the plane, he was quoted by Nigeria's Financial Watch news site.
According to Uriesi, the A220-300 was well-received in the Nigerian market and helped improve the airline's performance. This informed its decision to order ten new A220-300s from Airbus in October 2021.
Ibom Air currently operates two A320-200s wet-leased from Airhub Airlines (RE, Malta International) and GetJet Airlines Latvia (DML, Riga), respectively, and five CRJ900LRs - three owned and two on operating leases, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module. Uriesi said Ibom Air was choosing its aircraft models strategically to enhance its competitiveness in the domestic market.
He emphasised that Ibom Air's primary focus was on growing its presence in the African market, prioritising safety and service quality over intercontinental expansion. The airline has achieved notable milestones, including 2.5 million passengers on July 12, 2023; 34,802 scheduled flights as of August 31, 2023; and IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification in March 2023.
Having received its AOC in May 2019, Ibom Air is wholly owned by Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state government, through its Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP) vehicle.
About Ibom Air

 

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FLEET - A new A320 for Ibom Air delivered today MAD-LOS (YL-LMU)

José Ramon Valero - MAD
 

Nigeria's Ibom Air to debut regional flights in early 2Q23

Ibom Air (QI, Uyo) plans to add seven African and two domestic routes to its network from April 2023, according to Chief Operations Officer George Uriesi.

He told ch-aviation that Ibom Air would phase in regional flights from the first quarter of 2023. "The seven destinations are a carefully planned pivot to the region from operating only domestically. But the rollout is steady and organic. We won’t be starting all stations so quickly. It will happen over the course of this year, one after the other," he said. "We’ve looked at the passenger numbers and chosen our destinations based on the already existing ‘unserved’ or ‘underserved’ markets."

The new regional routes would serve Ghana (Accra), Cameroon, Sierra Leone (Freetown), Senegal (Dakar Blaise Diagne International), Liberia (Monrovia Roberts), Gabon (Libreville), and Gambia (Banjul), Group Manager (Marketing and Communications) Aniekan Essienette earlier told The Daily Trust newspaper. "Right now, we are in the process of tidying up all the international agreements, and once that is done, we will start going to our region," she said. Flights to Gambia have been requested by the country's vice president, Isatou Touray, she claimed.

Although the airline had already mapped out plans for the regional routes, it had to meet domestic demand first before expanding regionally, she added. "We are focused on one thing, to grow this airline and put [the Nigerian state of] Akwa Ibom on the pedestal. We are going to expand regionally. We tell everyone that cares to listen that Ibom Air is a world-class African regional airline, meaning that, as much as we want to go international, we want to, first of all, conquer the African territory," Essienette said.

Uriesi earlier told ch-aviation the airline expects delivery of ten in-house A220-300s from October 2023 to 2026, with the first three units expected between October 2023 and October 2024 and the remaining every quarter. Uriesi said Ibom Air had chosen the A220 because of its continental aspirations. The aircraft provided enough payload on routes to hot and high destinations such as Johannesburg O.R. Tambo. Uriesi said Ibom Air had no ambitions for intercontinental flights.

Based at Uyo, Ibom Air currently serves six domestic destinations, including Abuja, Lagos, Calabar, Enugu, Port Harcourt Omagwa, according to the ch-aviation schedules module. Its current fleet comprises two A320-200s wet-leased from Lithuania's GetJet Airlines (GW, Vilnius), and five CRJ900LRs, ch-aviation fleets advanced data shows.
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GetJet is preparing at MAD two A320 for delivery to the Nigerian Ibom Air.

JOSE RAMON VALERO

Nigerian Ibom Air purchases ten Airbus A220 aircraft

Dubai, 16 November 2021 – Akwa Ibom state government owned airline in Nigeria, Ibom Air has signed a firm order for ten (10) A220s at the Dubai Airshow. The signing was done by Mfon Udom, the chief Executive Officer of Ibom Air, and Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International in the presence of the Akwa Ibom state Governor, Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel.

Nigeria, with the largest population in Africa and the largest GDP, offers substantial growth potential in both domestic and regional travel. The A220 is therefore the ideal choice for a full range of services from very short-haul segments to intra-continental air routes.

“It gives me great pleasure to be here to announce Ibom Air’s order for 10 Airbus A220s”, said Mfon Udom, CEO of Ibom. “As an organization, we at Ibom Air are delighted with the steep growth we have achieved in just over two and a half years since we commenced operations, a growth chiefly driven by the massive embrace of our product and brand by the Nigerian domestic flying public. The addition of the A220 to our fleet will support our growth strategy and boost operational efficiency. It will also offer our passengers more space and enhanced cabin experience, as a value add for choosing us.”

“The A220 will allow us to increase the number of annual passengers through Akwa Ibom Airport, in Uyo, thus bringing more first-time visitors and business travelers to the region. These efforts reflect our commitment to supporting local commerce and making a positive contribution to socio-economic growth in Akwa Ibom state and Nigeria.” said the Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Mr. Udom Emmanuel.

Ibom Air currently operates two A220s. The airline flies to Uyo, Abuja, Calabar, Enugu, Lagos, and Port Harcourt. The purchase of the new A220s will enable the airline to continue on its growth path, offering new routes across not just Nigeria, but to the west African region and to Africa at large.

“We are thrilled to add Ibom Air as a new Airbus customer. The A220 is ideally suited to Nigeria's aviation needs, providing operational flexibility to grow the business by responding to demand for increased passenger services. Through this investment, Ibom Air is underscoring its ambition for regional and in due course, international connectivity and operational efficiency.”, said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International.

The A220 is the only aircraft purpose-built for the 100-150 seat market; it delivers unbeatable fuel efficiency and a wide body comfort experience in a single-aisle cabin, with extra wide seats, more leg room and onboard connectivity for entertainment and communication.

The A220 brings together state-of-the-art aerodynamics, advanced materials and Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation geared turbofan engines. With a range of up to 3,450 nm (6,390 km), the A220 gives airlines added operational flexibility. The A220 delivers up to 25% lower fuel burn and CO2 emissions per seat compared to previous generation aircraft, and 50% lower NOx emissions than industry standards. In addition, the aircraft noise footprint is reduced by 50% compared to previous generation aircraft - making the A220 a good neighbour around airports.

Ibom Air to lease 2 A220s from EgyptAir

Following-up on our report of early April, we can now tell you that Ibom Air will lease its two A220-300s from EgyptAir. The first aircraft, SU-GFA (55061) has been spotted at Cairo wearing Ibom Air-titles and logo and is set to be delivered to Nigeria soon. The second aircraft is expected to be SU-GFD (55062).

Both A220s were placed with EgyptAir's subsidiary Air Sinai and were used to fly (all white) between Cairo and Tel Aviv. However, due to the Corona-pandemic, EgyptAir has too much capacity and decided to lease-out the pair while taking the Tel Aviv-route in-house.

Ibom Air is planning to use the duo to open its first international destinations in West-Africa and Gabon. It currently operates a fleet of five CRJ900LRs out of its base at Akwa Ibom Airport.

Photo via Twitter.

Scramble

Nigeria's Ibom Air studies int'l route options

Ibom Air (IAN, Uyo) is planning to offer direct flights from Nigeria to Cameroon in the near future according to a report carried by the Vanguard Nigeria daily newspaper.

Talking to the media recently, Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem said: “There’s a demand from our neighbouring country, Cameroon, for Cameroonians to be connected directly to Lagos or Abuja instead of flying to Lomé [Togo] before connecting a flight to Abuja or Lagos.”

During his briefing, he revealed that Ibom Air has traffic rights to fly to Cameroon from Uyo, Abuja or Lagos and that the airline was planning to launch flights to Douala initially. According to the ch-aviation schedules module, ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé) is currently the only carrier operating between Cameroon and Nigeria offering three weekly flights from Lagos to Douala and from Abuja to Yaoundé Nsimalen.

There are currently no details on the new Douala route specifics like the planned start date or weekly frequency, although Ekuwem confirmed that Uyo's international terminal building will be ready to handle flights before the end of 2020.

Ibom Air, which commenced scheduled operations in June last year, presently operates a 17x weekly service from Uyo to Abuja and a similar weekly frequency to Lagos with its fleet of three CRJ900s.


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Nigeria's Ibom Air adds first aircraft, CRJ-900s

Ibom Air (Uyo) has taken delivery of its first two aircraft following the arrival of CRJ-900s C-FWNL (msn 15182) and C-FWNK (msn 15271) at Uyo Akwa Ibom International Airport on Wednesday, February 20.

The two ex-Suncor Energy (Calgary) twinjets will be joined by a third unspecified aircraft on Friday, February 22, Governor Udom Emmanuel said in a statement marking the aircraft's arrival.

According to the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ibom Air has already recruited 300 direct staff ahead of its launch.

No further details concerning when the start-up would launch, let alone which routes it will cover, were revealed.

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Photos: IBOM AIR