United Nigeria Airlines plans to activate cargo services at Ekiti Airport by January 2027, with its chairman pledging to carry commercial consignments once the state is ready to move goods by air.
The proposed service would carry agricultural produce and other commercial goods, subject to arrangements with the state government and cargo being available.
The airline also plans to increase passenger services to daily flights. No start date was given for that expansion.
Executive Chairman Obiora Okonkwo announced the plans on Monday, October 19, at the inauguration of Reeve Energy Nigeria Limited’s aviation fuel depot at the airport, according to the Ekiti State Government’s account of the event.
“If you have cargo by January, we will be the first to lift your commercial cargo,” Okonkwo said, according to The Guardian.
Okonkwo said the airline would be ready to carry goods to other parts of Nigeria and, eventually, international markets once the state was prepared to begin commercial cargo exports.
The new depot addresses an existing constraint on the airline’s passenger operations. The state government quoted Okonkwo as saying that aircraft had previously been unable to refuel locally, requiring flights to carry fewer passengers to meet weight and fuel safety requirements.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji said work was continuing on the airport’s Instrument Landing System and aerodrome ground lighting. He put the lighting project’s cost at more than N10 billion and said the upgrades were intended to enable round-the-clock operations.
Oyebanji said the government hoped to complete the work by the end of the year. He also said discussions were under way on an independent power project to provide the airport with a more reliable electricity supply.
Sources: Ekiti State Government, The Guardian
Something we should clarify?
Contact the newsroom
