2019: The Inaugural Flight of a Nigerian Airline

June 7, 2019

The first commercial flight of a newly established airline in Nigeria took place. Ibom Air is operated by the government of Akwa Ibom State in the country’s southeastern region. With the launch of Ibom Air, Akwa Ibom became the first of Nigeria’s 36 states to have its own airline.

The plane used for Ibom Air’s inaugural flight was a Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft. This flight began at Victor Attah International Airport, which is located 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Akwa Ibom’s capital city of Uyo; and ended at Muritala Muhammed International Airport, which is based in the city of Ikeja in Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Those on hand to watch the start of the flight at Victor Attah International Airport included Moses Frank Ekpo, Akwa Ibom’s deputy governor.

Photo Credit: Valdubemokwy (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)

For more information on Ibom Air, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibom_Air