The Akwa Ibom State Government on Wednesday took delivery of two aircraft, CRJ 900 series from Canada with registration C-FWNL and C-FWNK in preparation for flight operations.
The state government said the third aircraft in the fleet would arrive on Friday, February 22, adding that the aircraft were about six years old.
At the unveiling of the airline in Uyo, the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, described it as historic, saying that it would boost tourism and aviation in the state.
Saraki stated that Ibom Air showed that the Governor, Udom Emmanuel, had the interest of his people at heart, and was working to bring investment to the state, improve governance and provide leadership.
He said, “When you have a man from the private sector of a business that understands what it takes to bring in investment. Millions of youths are searching for jobs, the government on its own cannot provide those jobs. It is the government that can facilitate an environment for investment that will bring hope for our people; that is what Udom is doing here.
“He is creating the environment for the opportunity for people to have jobs; he is creating the environment for investment. That is why we need a new president, a president that thinks like him, a president that understands about job creation.”
Emmanuel said the airline was an achievement for his administration, adding that the aircraft had a sitting capacity of about 90 people and were among the newest and modern fleet of the manufacturer.
He said the airline would operate routes that would give preference to Akwa Ibom people, and that the government would soon launch one of the best terminal buildings in the country.
Emmanuel said, “The state government has strived to focus development of the state economy on land, air and water. So far, the state government has constructed over 1,000 kilometres of roads across the state while the plan to construct the most digital seaport, the Ibom deep seaport, in the state was on.