United Nigeria Airlines opens more domestic routes

 

Despites turbulence in the aviation sector, United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) has opened three additional domestic routes.

Last week UNA opened two in the North and one in the South.

This according to them is to further link more cities and create choices for the traveling public.

Daily Independent gives details of the turbulence and how the United Nigeria Airlines are handling them.

Excerpt:

The Nigerian aviation industry is one of the most toxic sectors in the country. Within the spate of three years, inflation has climbed by over 200 per cent, yet, it has not abated.

The airline sub-sector is facing the most challenging period in the industry with almost 100 per cent of their business transactions done in foreign exchange, especially in the United States dollars, yet collect fares in naira.

This challenge, has clipped the wings of many of the airline operators in recent months as some of them could not return to operations aircraft removed from service for maintenance checks due to their failure to access unstable forex.

Also, operations of some of them have been stagnant in the past few months due to the same reason of unfavourable operating environment.

But, in the midst of these challenges, a few of them have continued to beef up their operations, expand wings to new routes, ensure stability in operations and showed the zeal to weather the storm.

One of such thriving carriers is United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), which commenced scheduled operations in February 2021 with three Embraer ERJ 145, just a few months after the country returned from the lockdown occasioned by the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline commenced scheduled operations when a litre of Jet A1 (aviation fuel) was just about N200, but within a spate of 12 months, the price of the product skyrocketed to N400 and now about N800 per litre.
Also, within the same period in 2021, a dollar to naira was less than N400, but today, the same dollar is sourced for N1,150 in the same marketplace.

Just last week, in a show of commercial ingenuity and deep knowledge of the aviation industry in the country, United Nigeria made a red carpet and triumphant entries into three major routes in the country within 24 hours and with plans to further spread its wings in the coming days.

Within the 24 hours, no fewer than three State Governors; Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto of Sokoto State and Abba Yusuf of Kano State and two emirs; Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III and Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, welcomed the airline into their domains with promises to support and collaborate with it.

For the first time in the annals of the industry, an airline commenced direct flight operations from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) to Benin, Sokoto and Kano routes within 24 hours.
At the Benin Airport, Obaseki lauded Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines and his management team for their commitment towards the massive expansion drive.

Obaseki in his speech at the Benin Airport lauded United Nigeria Airlines for easing travel for the residents of Edo State especially at this festive season.

Obaseki, also explained that the commencement of scheduled flight services by the airline would further make the airfares more competitive with arrays of choices for the travelling public.

According to him, since the airline joined the domestic operators, it has entrenched professionalism in the discharge of its duties and curb delays among the operating carriers.

He recalled that about seven years ago when he became the governor of the state, the airport had only one scheduled carrier operating into it, but the effort of the State Government to collaborate with private investors and the Federal Government had further increased the airlines to its present eight.
He said: Let me remind all of us here that when I came into office in 2016, late 2016 there was only one commercial airline flying into Benin.

Today, we have the eighth airline coming into Benin and I heard that there is another one that we expecting to start operation soon.
I recall my meeting with the former Minister of Aviation (Sen. Hadi Sirika) and the conversation at that time was that we were ready to collaborate with the Federal Government to increase the traffic flow into Benin City, Edo State.

For its operations into the Sadiq Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto, its aircraft was welcomed into the city by water canon salute by the fire service men of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The airline also broke the record of being the first carrier to have Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar III and Mr. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, the Governor of Sokoto State onboard an inaugural flight.
The duo had boarded the airline from Abuja airport to Sokoto airport on its Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
The team on landing at the Sokoto airport, moved to the Sultans palace where it was roundly received by the Sultan himself and his arrays of his council chiefs.

At the Sultans palace, the Sultan who commended the management team of the airline, confirmed that it was the first time he would be a part of any inaugural flight in the country.

He expressed that UNA had taken the bold step by flying directly to Sokoto, promising that the palace would support it in any way possible for the carrier to succeed in its operations to the state and anywhere else.

He regretted the aviation industry in Nigeria was faced with enormous challenges and commended the airline for keeping its operations save with integrity.

According to the Sultan, the plan to link Abuja with Sokoto started about eight months ago and expressed delight that the dream had become a reality.

He said: “United Nigeria Airlines is most welcomed to fly to Sokoto. Okonkwo told me about this plan eight months ago. I am happy that it has become a reality today. We need to open Sokoto to more airlines and connect more routes from here.

Business environment is very tight in Nigeria and you have to be strong to remain in business and I know Okonkwo is very strong, having been in politics and I know that the experience he gathered there will spur him on.

This is the first time I am flying with any inaugural flight in this country and you did this. If there are challenges you are facing in the sector, please feel free to tell me. May you continue to fly higher, successfully and safety.

At the governors office, it was the same story of warm reception by the governor who after the interaction with the team, personally led Okonkwo and his entourage to the lunch table where everyone was treated to delicious delicacies of any type.

The governor also begged the airline to connect Sokoto and Kano with air link, saying that the two states are very key to business development of the country.

The governor further explained that the airline was the first to commence direct routes from Abuja to Sokoto since he was sworn-in as the governor of the state over six months ago.

The governor also, promised to provide good business environment for UNA to thrive, maintaining that aviation was a catalyst for economic growth of any nation.
I want to assure you that my government is well committed to collaborate with individuals and organisations that want to grow the entire state, he said.

In Kano, the emir, Aminu Ado Bayero and other dignitaries from the state were on ground to receive UNA to his expansive and cosy palace.

Like others, Bayero appealed to UNA to connect Kano with other states of the federation, especially the South east region where he said has the highest concentration of the Igbos in the country, apart from the South east itself.

He said: The tradition of being a commercial nerve centre is well-known and I hope that with the addition of Kano to the routes, it will be a catalyst for more development. You are assured of my continued support and my hope is that there would be flights to link Kano to the South East states where we have a huge population of Igbos.

Given the long-standing relationship between Kano and the South East, if a route is opened between Kano and the South East, it would further boost economic development in the region and in Kano as well.

In his response to all the accolades poured on him and the airline in the three states, Okonkwo promised to continue to unite all Nigerians through the air in order to make air travel more seamless and affordable for all Nigerians.

Okonkwo also expressed delight at the warm receptions he received from the three states, saying that that the new routes were very important marketplaces for the airline and promised that it would continue to serve them well.

He said: We are glad to be here. It is not about whether we are eight or seven. We have to thank the governor who took the initiative to invite us here. Discussion started in Lagos in 2022 and our team has visited Edo State and today, we have fulfilled the first promise, which was to start flying here, he said at Benin Airport.

In almost three years of its operations, United Nigeria has continued to evince strength, reliability and consistency, becoming the airline pride of Nigerians.

The airline is already living up to its mantra of uniting all Nigerians irrespective of states and the management as led by Okonkwo is showing the path for other carriers to follow, despite relatively being a new carrier in the sector.

Quote: Business environment is very tight in Nigeria and you have to be strong to remain in business and I know Okonkwo is very strong, having been in politics and I know that the experience he gathered there will spur him on.

Picture caption: L-R: Mr. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto, the Governor of Sokoto State and Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines in the Government House, during the inaugural flight of the airline to Sokoto Sate, recently.