United Nigeria Plans Multi-Million-Dollar MRO Facility In Nigeria
United Nigeria Airlines is planning to set up a multi-million-dollars Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria in partnership with Cronos Airlines.
United Nigeria has also signed an interlining and codeshare agreement with the airline, which would enable the two carriers to partner domestically and regionally.
Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines, revealed these over the weekend in his office in Lagos, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malabo, Equatorial Guinea based aviation company.
Okonkwo explained that the MRO facility would carry out maintenance services on Embraer brands, Boeing 737 classic and 737NG brands.
Apart from servicing the domestic airlines, Okonkwo stated that the MRO would also maintain aircraft within the region, maintaining that on completion, the facility would be the biggest within the West and Central African regions.
According to him, no Nigerian MRO facility could carry out extensive base services, except line maintenance, but said its proposed facility would address such challenges.
He explained that locating the facility in Nigeria would also reduce foreign exchange for the country, while it would further boost employment opportunities for qualified Nigerians.
He said: “Absence of a comprehensive MRO facility is costing us a lot of resources. We burn a lot of Jet A1, seek forex and others. These are what we think is creating a high cost of operations for us in the industry. So, we have no doubt that with this, we will not only save the cost of operations for United Nigeria, we should also be offering services to other operators.
“Now, we will be conserving our scarce foreign exchange and open up new other aspects for active participation in the aviation industry because other countries will also visit us to enjoy or benefit from our services. Sometimes, we complain about delays, this may be about the inadequate equipment because we don’t take safety with levity in the industry.
“With MRO located here in Nigeria, we will develop capacity to be able to address the technical issue properly. So, this has a multi-dimension effect on the operations of United Nigeria Airlines and also to the entire industry, the nation in the area of saving foreign exchange and manpower development, technology and transfer of knowledge.”
Also, Okonkwo said that the interlining and codeshare agreement with Cronos Airlines would enable it to integrate its services to provide strong regional operations, which would further open up air travels in the region.
He declared that interlining among airlines was key to the airline sub-sector, stressing that this would enable it to take the advantage of the fifth freedom already in place in the aviation eco-system.
The fifth freedom is the right of an airline to transport passengers or cargo between two foreign countries, as long as the flight begins or ends in the airline’s home country.
Besides, the first of the six Embraer 190 aircraft acquired by United Nigeria Airlines arrived the country on Thursday.
Okonkwo explained that additional E-190 would join the growing fleet of aircraft before the end of the year, while another two would arrive in the first quarter of 2025 and another two in the second quarter of 2025.
This, he assured would ease the pains of the flying public.
He said: “We have a plan to have about six aircraft in the category of E-190 between now and second quarters of 2025. Hopefully, in a very short time, we are going to have a second E-190 aircraft; in the first quarter, we are going to have two and the second quarter of 2025, additional two aircraft would be added to our fleet, making six aircraft in all.
“As we speak, we are already training our cabin crew for E-190 brand. The engineering team that is on ground, has already signed to start training our line engineers. Our cabin crew have completed a greater part of their training abroad. Some of them have returned to the country.”
Also, Andeas Kaiafas of Cronos Airlines, said that the company was delighted to partner with United Airlines to further drive growth in the Nigerian aviation industry.
He assured that Cronos would assist the Nigerian aviation industry to grow through its partnership with United Nigeria Airlines.
