Akwa Ibom Aircraft Maintenance Facility To End $2.5bn Yearly Capital Flight

The completion and certification of the Akwa Ibom state owned Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), will save indigenous airline operators and the nation’s economy $2.5 billion yearly capital flight.

LEADERSHIP reports that the Akwa Ibom state MRO facility situated at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo would oversee the maintenance of commercial airplanes operating in the country which costs Nigeria about $2.5 billion in capital flight yearly.

The lack of high-capacity MROs in the country is one of the perennial hurdles before local airlines’ operations as the mandatory maintenance programme, ranging from minor to complex checks per session on an aircraft, costs about $2 million, and a cumulative burden on the industry that charges in naira.

However, to change the narrative, the Akwa Ibom state government in 2012 commenced work on the MRO facility. By design, the Ibom MRO is intended to be the fourth largest in Africa, and next to continental leaders in Johannesburg (servicing South African Airlines), Addis Ababa (Ethiopian Airlines) and Cairo (EgyptAir).

The state-owned edifice is designed to complement Ibom Air, local airlines’ operations, and by extension, cater for maintenance needs of airlines in the West and Central African region.

Speaking to journalists, the chief operating officer (COO), Ibom Air, George Uriesi, said the Ibom MRO would compete with any maintenance facility globally.

“It is like the MRO facility you find everywhere in the advanced world. Ours is one of the top four in Africa. It is massive; it can take two 747-800 airplanes side-by-side with hangar doors shut and in climate-controlled ambience. In the same vein, the MRO can take eight of our Airbus A220, as well as 10 of our CRJ-900, all at once.

“So, the facility is really large and it’s what other major world airlines have. The capacity depends on the aircraft you are maintaining per time. For instance, we are carrying out line maintenance on our A220 fleet. We can have eight of them at a go. That is a huge capacity, and it goes for aircraft types in the range of A320 and Boeing 737 series,” Uriesi said.

The COO reckoned that an MRO of that size and capacity is a gamechanger for the aviation industry and particularly for Ibom Air. Besides the costs of overseas maintenance, the local capacity will also change the narrative of having multiple Aircraft on Ground (AOG), and job creation in the air transport sector.

Uriesi said, “The MRO facility is very important, not just for Ibom Air or Akwa Ibom State, but for Nigeria. It is the only major facility in West and Central Africa, but more than that, it presents the opportunity for us to pivot into a different area for aviation.

“Because all the facilities and parts – from wheels to aircraft brakes, tyres, all the different avionics, shocks, and all other things that have not existed in Nigeria at this scale before – will be provided for.”

“So, we have the opportunity to provide MRO services to all airlines in West and Central Africa. We intend to create a centre of excellence that will enable us to provide services that our airlines have flown across the world to get,” Uriesi said.

For sustainability, the Ibom Air Development Company will be partnering with Airbus Consulting to operate the facility.

“Airbus Consulting is developing the business plan for optimal use of this facility, and they are impressed with what we have done. We plan to maintain our A220 and CRJ 900. When we have the business plan, it allows us to know what to further invest in, airlines and aircraft to target. As it stands, the MRO is roaring to go once the certification is done,” Uriesi said.