The minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said that Nigeria will take delivery of dry-lease aircraft on October 6, after almost 20 years.
Keyamo disclosed this at the groundbreaking ceremony of Air Peace’s maintenance hangar at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.
According to Keyamo, the first dry lease will arrive in Nigeria by virtue of Air Peace after Nigeria was removed from the blacklist globally, owing to the implementation of the Cape Town Convention.
He said that what was obtainable all over Nigeria in the last 20 years were wet leases, but confidence had returned to the Nigerian aviation ecosystem.
According to Keyamo, the pressure of servicing wet leases mostly fell on the consumers, resulting in high ticket prices, high maintenance costs and high overheads.
“This is the first time we will have a dry lease. Dry lease means that confidence has returned to the Nigerian ecosystem.
“They are giving you your plane. Control it yourself. I wrote a personal guarantee for Air Peace to get that dry lease. I put my life and reputation on the line,” he said.
Speaking on Air Peace’s Maintenance, Repair and Overall (MRO) facility, Keyamo said this would save Nigeria, foreign exchange and capital flight for aircraft maintenance.
“What this is going to save in terms of FX for this country is incredible. Air Peace alone spends about N180 billion yearly on maintenance; imagine what other airlines are spending.
“Money that should remain within our jurisdiction went out. That is capital flight. With this facility here, we will keep that within Nigeria.
“We are now going to attract people to bring in their money, not only ours, but we are going to attract foreign inflows.
“In the whole of West Africa and Central Africa, there are no good MROs. The good thing is that this facility will accommodate wide-bodied aircraft. You do not have such in the whole of West Africa and Central Africa,” he said.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu’s official visit to Brazil had paid off because Embraer would partner with Air Peace to provide technical support at the facility.
Keyamo noted that ensuring local operators thrive was at the core of his mandate and that the federal government would always support local airlines.
He also added that the MRO facility would be a game-changer, stimulating pilots to cut capital flights and earn foreign exchange.
Therefore, the minister urged commercial banks to return to the aviation ecosystem, adding that no sector could grow without the active support of financial institutions.
He noted that the aviation system had been recalibrated and banks could finance aircraft acquisition, assuring they would get their money back.
Keyamo disclosed that he had approved four international Air Peace routes (Italy, Canada, Paris and Istanbul).
The minister expressed displeasure that local carriers only airlifted about five per cent of international travellers from Nigeria and wished Nigerian carriers could do more.
