Ibom Air said its two new Airbus A220 aircraft will hit the skies soon, bringing much needed capacity, more comfort, enhanced safety and increased reliability to the domestic air travel market.
According to Ibom Air, both new leased aircraft are the result of the its decision to fast track fleet development plan in order to respond to a surge in passenger numbers, which stretched the capacity of its CRJ900 fleet to the maximum. With the arrival of both leased jets, the airline is now able to provide the much-needed capacity sought by its fast-increasing clientele.
Ibom Air revealed that its passengers on the Lagos-Abuja route can now experience 3 flights each way daily, in the comfort of the A220. The A220 will also serve the Uyo to Lagos and Uyo to Abuja routes, while the airline’s fleets of 5 CRJ900s fill up any gaps, providing adequate capacity on all the other routes.
Mr. George Uriesi, Ibom Air COO noted:“we are pleased to introduce the Airbus A220, one of the most advanced passenger jets in the world, into the Nigerian domestic market. While our fleet of Bombardier CRJ900s did a splendid job powering the airline during its start-up phase, we had to adjust our business strategy and fast track our move to higher capacity aircraft. With the introduction of the A220, this capacity squeeze will be adequately addressed.”
The airline is currently in negotiations with Airbus to procure a fleet of brand new A220s for deliveries commencing 4th quarter 2022. The carrier chose to bridge the urgent capacity gap by wet-leasing these 2 new jets from Egypt air as a stop-gap measure.