ENUGU AIR SET TO FLY! DR. OBI OZOR BREAKS DOWN THE BIG LAUNCH | ENUGU'S SKY-HIGH AMBITION TAKES OFF

Thank you very much. Good morning. Welcome, welcome.

Yeah, thank you very much. It's an honor to be here. Yes, Enugu Air is ready for takeoff. And I believe this is the fastest anybody in this country has been able to set up an airline. We started this journey just about December of 2024, and just about seven months in, we are ready to take off. Generally, this takes almost two to three years. That's the norm, but thanks to the leadership of His Excellency Barrister Peter Mbah, who is coming from the private sector and knows how to push and set up businesses. And we've enjoyed the support from the presidency, the Ministry of Aviation, FAAN, the NCAA—everybody has been in support because we need to have that type of airline that has the ability to scale and solve the problem. So we're ready to take off on commercial operation on Monday, the 7th, by noon. The ceremony is at the international apron of our Akanu Ibiam International Airport.

Yes. So people will start buying commercial tickets from tomorrow. So today the website will go live. Recall that aviation is highly regulated. So we've submitted our website and booking portal for approval, and we're hoping that it goes live sometime today or midnight. And tomorrow people can buy flight tickets for the Lagos to Enugu flight on Monday morning, a flight from Lagos to Enugu on Monday morning, and then an afternoon flight from Enugu to Lagos.

Yeah, the routes are first of all what we call the golden triangle, which is from point A to Lagos and Abuja, right? And then there are also additional routes. So we're starting off with Enugu to Lagos, Enugu to Abuja, Lagos to Port Harcourt, Abuja to Port Harcourt, Lagos to Warri, Lagos to Abuja to Warri, and Lagos to Kano for the start. And gradually, as our fleet grows by Q4 of this year, we'll further put more machines on those lanes and also expand to other routes within the nation. And also we'll be starting the inaugural for the international flight.

In fact, I don't even think we'll have enough space for the people that have already been pre-booking offline for the inaugural flight. I don't even think I can be accommodated there. I wish I could be in Lagos. So you're not sure of your seat then? Of course, there are a lot of people, and even the leadership of the different regulators that are coming from Lagos to Enugu for the launch—they are already going to be there. Even the financial institutions—we won't even have space. And recall that aviation, because of its peculiar nature, is highly regulated. I don't know if you've seen that most of our machines—we have been doing demo flights since last week Friday. Most of those demo flights will be completed. Each of these machines had to do multiple hours with the inspectors, NCAA inspectors in them, and you're just operating—you land at the airport and take off empty, just burning fuel—and they are checking and checking. It's part of regulation before you can carry passengers. So today we'll be completing our demo flights here.

As I mentioned, it's leadership and having people who have experience in businesses, in launching businesses. Right. So this airline is not really a political thing; it's a company. It's a company. In fact, for me, Monday basically marks the starting of my headache, not even the end of it, because you now have to make sure the airline is safe and reliable. And of course, in the beginning, these things—especially reliability—is a problem because even at the airport terminals in Nigeria, things are not fast generally. Right. How do you ensure that your airline is a different maker? Right. And that's why you call it 'Fly Differently.' Right. So that's part of the headache. It's a company; it's not really a political thing.

No, it's a business. It's a business. There's no interference, as the governor has promised—there is no government interference. So we partner with ExJet. Okay. So ExJet is our partner, and they will be running the airline. But of course, the airline is owned fully by Enugu State government. And our job is to promote, support, and make sure they are following the overarching vision of the administration. And the pricing will be competitive. Of course, in business, when you're starting up, you normally are not the most priced; you have to break into the market. And then after you break in, if you have done well, you should be able to have the leverage to set your own price. So that is not different from what we'll be seeing. However, recall as the governor has mentioned, the reason for launching an airline is not just to generate profit, but more to be able to open up this region, to turn Enugu into the hub of transportation and aviation hub across Africa. It's not really just Nigeria; it's across Africa.

Yes. I believe that for the past one week, if you have even gone to the airport, you will see where they formally had the Ghana—you see the Enugu counters. And you also have it in Warri, Abuja, Lagos, and other places.

No, no, no, no. We don't have that type of power. It's wherever shows you after you've complied with all their requirements.

I think that Dana stopped flying to Enugu for some time now.

80,000 naira? I don't think that the young group charges similar to go by saying by yes. But as mentioned, the pricing will be competitive. But also because it's more about access—making Enugu accessible to people—the pricing won't be the focus. But I noticed that the average ticket price both for on-time and late purchases, right, for any route, is almost 155,000 naira. So of course, the benefit of having a state-promoted airline is that the state can look beyond just the core bottom line; you can look at how this helps unlock hospitality. So with that case, Enugu will probably most times be priced lower than everyone.

I don't really understand what those people are implying. Remember, aircraft are not vehicles. Even for certain airlines that have even placed orders for some machines, those things can take six years before you actually get all of them. I know of an airline that ordered for ten machines from Airbus—I think it's only two have arrived in two years, right? So it takes time. The aircraft are all fine. Just like you bought a brand new vehicle, you're not yet ready to surprise somebody with it, and then you park it. Of course, when you are about to start to gift it, you wash it and you take off. Yeah. So there's no issue.

The aircraft are very sound. Aircraft generally have a 35-year first useful life, and then you can overhaul it. So those aircraft are less than ten years old.

Yes. The state and operator are partnering directly with the aircraft manufacturer, Embraer. And you know, Embraers are the best machines for this hot and dusty climate. Yes. So and of course, that partnership is way much more reliable—though it can be a little bit expensive—but that guarantees that you always have the spares, you follow their maintenance timelines. Yes.

Yeah, the program starts by noon. The venue is the international apron of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport. There will be canopies and cultural displays and different dignitaries. Then we are hoping there will be an inaugural flight coming from Lagos. The last of the three aircraft will take off from Lagos around 11:00 to land exactly around noon, and we hope that will be some interesting stuff. And then the event kicks off. The honorable minister of aviation is a special guest of honor, and it should last for an hour and a half. And then we are hoping that there will also be an inaugural flight from Enugu taking off from Enugu back to Lagos, and also hopefully take the Abuja people back to Abuja. And then that officially marks the commercial launch of the airline.

Yes, I think he'll be helping us to strong-arm him. But yes, they are already in support because Akanu Ibiam is the only international airport for this region that is actually heavily populated by entrepreneurs. So yes, and you know that there has been support from the federal government to actually operationalize that international airport through the concession process. And all we need from them is to see that concession through, because the federal government has moved that airport to the concurrent list across the nation. So that means that they are signaling that they generally don't want to be injecting the people's money into some of these infrastructure that are commercially viable, which the private sector can get involved. So that is what we are hoping that they can do for us—if they can finish that concession this month or next month, that allows the private sector to potentially try to operationalize that airport before Christmas.

Exactly. And that's what that hub strategy is all about, right? That's why it's going hand in hand with the concession and completion of the international airport and an airline, right? Because you can't even have those massive jumbo jets easily on the domestic wing, right? So if it's going to be going outside the country to pick up cargo or even mop up from other places, you kind of need that international wing to be fully operational. Yes. Adding additional machines to the fleet will not be a challenge. And then thanks to the governor's effort and pushing the presidency, they should be able to concession and complete that international wing. And recall that it actually has a free trade zone in our airport—it's actually the only airport in Nigeria, I believe, that has a free trade zone attached to it. And that's where the cargo terminal of the airport will be built once the concession is completed. So that allows merchants trading all over the world to be able to send their stuff directly to that place duty-free, and also allows our people to be able to export different types of things to the rest of the world.

So we're expecting the same type of speedy execution as we've seen in the launch of the airline—just within six months getting the airline off the ground. We are hoping that the federal government supports this region by completing that concession in the next two months. Then that allows the concessionaires to at least do a six-month to one-year worth of completion of that international wing, because there is still some significant amount of work. That international wing is about 71% completed, so there's still some work. So what you see there is the exteriors look completed, but a lot of the interior stuff and even the cargo side, the extension of the airport—there's a lot of work still left. And we believe that thanks to the capacity there—the CCC built it and they are still there—so once the private sector comes in, they might consider just working with them, so it makes it easier and faster. But of course, there are a lot of companies that have capacity who want to jump in and support the project.

There have been three of us here now. Yes, I'm sure because Afia TV is part of the media and communication partner to Enugu Air. So I'm sure that you will have your ticket, and you can pay us so that we can have more money.

Yes. So as part of regulation, there are steps in assessing all your licenses. So it's almost like five steps. So we did a recruitment—all the pilots started work in the first week of May. So Enugu Air actually has pilots working; they have earned their second month's pay, right? So immediately they were hired, but we ran a process for over six weeks to recruit the pilots. Then they went for training, both type rating and refreshing, different in Amsterdam and other countries. They came back, then they started doing other local work. The crew, the flight attendants, were interviewed. I think you saw some of the interview process went around in Enugu, Abuja, Lagos. Then we recruited, they went for their training. They finished; they were all part of people doing the demo flights because you have to even have this entire crew before NCAA allows you to start your demo flights. So they've all been working behind the scene. So we also now have the ground crew who will be doing the ticketing, customer support, accounts, sales, marketing. So they have all been interviewed, offer letters sent out, and they now, of course, commence their operations on Monday. So that's how it was done. Then of course, a lot of attention was paid to finding the right qualified people, but of course, making sure that we are also developing our people and giving them the opportunity to build that capacity to serve in aviation. Just like when they started, most of the people there are not from Akwa Ibom, right? But within five years, they built that capacity. So in the beginning, you're going to see some of our indigenes, but you're not going to see a lot because what matters is safety, reliability, and comfort of the passengers. It's not really about just having your people, but gradually we keep building our capacity, and then the airline will also be growing and adding additional fleet. So as we build capacity, you're going to be seeing in subsequent recruitments that our people will be there.

Why you come up morning flight? You can't separate. You can't separate. You're stepping on toes from Enugu State. It's not possible. See, once it's morning, that's a breakfast Abacha.

No, so that's what I was—that now is the deliberate plan. Are we—is there a—does the airline plan to have its own training facility, or is there going to be an agreement with NCAA or FAAN to do a more comprehensive training institute here in the region? What is the plan for capacity building? Is anyone going to be involved, or are we just hoping that the federal government pushes more resources this way?

As you can see, the governor's approach is generally very aggressive and very business-minded. He doesn't leave things to chance, right? As he always says, nothing happens by accident. You have to create markets. So whether you see us launching an airline and forcing this place to become an aviation hub, that's also what you're going to see in terms of critical infrastructure like proper maintenance, repair, and overhaul. That's even what, for me, I'm very excited about because we have a lot of universities. So that's a highly high-paying job, right? Having an MRO instead of aircraft going to South Africa and Morocco when you come to Africa, or even Ethiopia for maintenance. If you can even take the West African market—West and Central Africa—to be maintaining in Enugu, that is a very high-paying job. Yes, the southeast generally, whether even in the military, we are always lagging behind. Part of it is because we wait for the federal government and we are not proactive in making sure we take our destinies in our own hands. That's what you're seeing from this government, right? We are not waiting around. So now that we have an airline, you're going to see graduates going to do training, right? Because they have a place to be employed, right? So that is what you're going to start seeing. And then those things are very, very world-class jobs that pay very well. In fact, I consider becoming a pilot after I saw what they earn. So in fact, maybe the next time you might see me, you might now be hearing 'Captain.' Exactly.

Today. I think I mentioned Saturday.

We'll send it to you so we can publish that.

So of course, Enugu Air is not about an administration. It's about the people. It's about the region. In fact, it goes beyond Enugu; it's also about the region. It's about the pride of the nation. And we've seen a success story in Ibom Air. They have transitioned from two administrations. They've changed a CEO after completing a tenure. They've reported profitability. They've grown fleet. So I think that we can even do better because we are very business-minded. Our region is very business-minded. So if Ibom could do this even with the level of resources that that state has—right, that is even from oil and gas—I believe that any administration in this state will champion that. And to what you mentioned, I didn't address it in terms of the culture and feel of Enugu—it's 042, it's 042. So we're going to make sure that people are enjoying our 042 vibes, whether in terms of the greeting, the swag—you know, we have swag and other things. But we might not be serving some local delicacies on the local routes. Maybe when we start going international, right? Because you also want to serve things that are quick so that immediately the aircraft lands within 20 minutes, just like what you have with Southwest Airlines in the US. It has turned over. That's what gives you reliability.

Yes. The first thing is you have to do a proper business plan. You have to do your feasibility studies. That's what we did. In fact, we started feasibility study for Enugu Air on November 18th, I believe, 2023, right? So that's when we started. The feasibility was done, a lot of consultation, selection of listening to professionals. Let's say if most people might say Boeing, right? You have to look at what machine is suitable for this area, right? Can you maintain them? Right? What is the route development plan? Instead of going to bring massive jumbo jets that you will not be able to have proper load factor—let's say 75% load factor—then you're burning through a ton of money, and if you don't have a ton of money to sustain it, you will have issues. Right? Then even selection of the fleet size for the start, right? So that you don't have a lot of pressure. Then partnering with the right operator that actually has experience and can take that airline to where it needs to be.

So ExJet is—I think they are the largest, I believe, the largest private jet operator in Nigeria. They have about 11 machines in their fleet. They also do commercial. So when you think of where you see that reliability, right? That safety and comfort is in private jets. So if you're able to do that—and I believe they actually part of people flying the presidency since the aircraft has been in maintenance. Yeah. So when you are able to do that and fly at that highest level, that's what we want to bring into regular commercial operations, right? Because it's already what they do. Imagine that's the service people expect.

Thank you very much. Thank you.