August 03,(THEWILL) – The Newly built Ibom Air Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Uyo is expected to save the country about N1.25 trillion annually when the facility finally comes on steam, as it will provide commercial maintenance for the state-owned airline and other domestic airlines in the country.
Speaking during an interview with journalists, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ibom Air, Mr George Uriesi, said that Ibom Air MRO is a major facility that can be found anywhere in the advanced world.
Uriesi stated that the MRO is massive and it can take two Boeing 747-800 standing side by side with the doors closed and climate control.
According to him, it can also take eight of their aircraft type, Airbus A220 at once and ten CRJ 900 aircraft type in addition.
He said: “The facility is really very very large. Depending on what aircraft you are maintaining, for example, those doing line maintenance. Of our fleet of A220, we can have eight of them at once. That is a huge capacity that goes for all aircraft in the range of A320 and B737 series. It can take all of these.
“The MRO facility is very very important, not just for Ibom Air, Akwa Ibom or Nigeria, it is the only facility of this type in the whole of West Africa and Central Africa but more than that, it presents an opportunity for us to keep working through a different era in the industry in Nigeria because all the facilities we have, from wheels, aircraft brakes, tyres, avionics, shocks haven’t existed in Nigeria at this scale before.
“We have the opportunity to provide all these MRO services to all the airlines in West Africa and Central Africa. We intend to create a Centre of Excellence with this facility that will allow us to provide the services that our airlines have to fly across the world to get. We either go to Ethiopia, Johannesburg or worst still to Europe and pay a lot of Euros. With this facility, we will be able to provide to other airlines commercial maintenance right here in Uyo.
“We are partnering with Airbus consulting and we have contracted them to partner with us and to come and assess the facility, which they are very impressed with. They are to also help us develop a business plan for the optimal use of this facility. So, what we want is to be able to maintain our fleet, which is the A220 and CRJ900 and also to advise us on the best fleet we can get the most business out of.
“We can set up that business plan so that we know what we are investing in terms of the capability of maintenance of which aircraft and to target the right airlines to offer our services. We have to give it to the Akwa Ibom State Government. It is a succession of progressive governance and they have continued. So, we can say we now have an airport built by the State Government, a world-class MRO built by the State Government and a world-class terminal, which is the best in the country.”
On the new smart terminal, the COO said: “The new terminal brings the huge game-changing reality to the industry in Nigeria. First of all, it is the first purpose-built hub terminal specifically designed to move passengers from flight to flight. You can arrive from a domestic flight and connect to an international flight. Also, you can arrive from an international flight and connect to a domestic flight or arrive from an international flight and connect to an international right at the same terminal under the same airport experience, which is world-class.
“It all adds to the joy of travelling that we have kind of lost in Nigeria because of the poor airport experience that visitors to Nigeria have experienced through the other international terminals over time. With this terminal, if you want to go to Johannesburg, you book a flight like a domestic flight out of Abuja. You can fly into Uyo to connect to Johannesburg. The wow airport experience you will get will make you never want to go and fly out of any inconvenient airport.”
Assuring that Ibom Air is planning to build a world-class African regional airline, Uriesi added: “Our strategy is to be able to build a world-class African regional airline, just as our vision is to be able to provide a world-class service. And to provide a world-class service, everything comes into play. These include airport experience, the onboard experience of the passengers, customer service elements through the buying of tickets, check-in, arrival, delivering of bags etc.”
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
