Valuejet operates scheduled flight services from Lagos, which is its hub, to Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Benin, Asaba, Jos, and some other states across Nigeria, which the carrier intends to launch soon.
As part of its 100 days of flying customers, the airline stated that passengers are to book and travel for as low as N40,000 under the Value Lite promo, which entitles them to 7kg hand luggage only, while the Value Plus promo category of N50, 000 entitles customers to 7kg hand luggage and 23kg checked bag. Other promo options come with different kilograms of luggage.
Chairman of ValueJet and founder of Bet9ja, Mr. Kunle Soname, remarked that the airline was no stranger to the industry and would base its services on the need for the right pricing.
He thanked the passengers for being part of history and patronage in the past 100 days of the existence of the airline when it launched flight services on October 4th, 2022, with its CRJ 900 90-seater aircraft, recording above 97 percent load factor.
Managing Director of Valuejet, Capt. Dapo Majekodunmi, recounted the 100 days of the airline and unfolded some plans to make the airline the preferred carrier of many Nigerians, stressing that they intend to expand operations to other routes across the country.
“The past 100 days have been interesting and you expect that we, as a start-up, would have issues that we need to improve on. We did not get comfortable with the first 100 days as we tried to do something better. Every day that went was better than the previous day and we have been able to study and see areas to be addressed on demand and passenger service satisfaction.”
“We intended to introduce some more routes, which we saw that there were demands and especially, for people of those areas that were able to fly us in the South and wanting us to bring such qualities to their own side, which is Jos for instance. You know that aircraft spares are very hard to get to the rate of the dollars. We have always had plans to keep an aircraft on the ground as a spare and operate when we are short of aircraft; so that we can have a backup”.
Capt. Majekodunmi further disclosed that Valuejet was on the verge of acquiring some CRJ airplanes to boost its fleet in response to passengers’ demand.
He noted also that the airline had concluded plans to equally run scheduled cargo services, describing it as the first in Nigeria to do so.
“We are doing something, maybe the first in the Nigerian market as a scheduled operator to also run scheduled cargo operations. We are expecting a cargo plane under Valuejet Airlines,” he added.
Speaking further on the 100 days of Valuejet, Capt. Majekodunmi said, “The 100 days of Valuejet is always a milestone every company looks forward to. It is like a performance measure to know what you have done. We‘ve seen ourselves do reasonably well. We have seen the figures; things have not been easy with travellers. We have seen the fares due to the price of fuel and what have you.”
“We want to make our customers feel our impact. We decided to do a kind of promo for the 100 days, which we will do with a reasonable, sustainable reduction for the VALUE LITE promo, VALUE PLUS promo, and VALUEPREMIUM, and that will go on for another 30 days of the month of celebration.”
“We are not just doing it for the day but for 30 days and after that, we will look at the response of the people and see if we have to make some adjustments to the prices. Maintenance-wise, we are doing reasonably well. We have a partner; Regional One is the largest CRJ maintenance firm with spares and logistics and aircraft. The management of Regional One intends to pay us a visit during our 100 days”.
Team Lead, Marketing for Valuejet, Ayisat Titilope Adams, said they have identified a niche in the sector, the need for fair pricing amidst the rising cost of commercial aviation to the average customer compounded by tough economic realities for air operators.
She said, ‘’ValueJet was founded with a mission to make air travel affordable to everyone, and a vision to build a global airline, connecting people with places while using modern air travel. ValueJet airline is here to add value to the Nigerian flying populace.”
About the Author
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.
