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By Chinelo Obogo
Air Peace yesterday took delivery of a Boeing 737-NG on dry lease, making it the first time in over a decade a Nigerian airline did so.
At the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Lagos where dignitaries gathered to receive the aircraft, the Vice President Leasing, AerCap, Gad Wavomba, confirmed that it has been nearly a decade since a dry-lease transaction was completed in Nigeria.
With a dry lease agreement, the lessor provides only the aircraft, and the lessee is responsible for all other aspects of operation, including crew, insurance, maintenance and fuel.
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The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who was present at the event, said the feat was a combined effort from all the institutions of government.
Keyamo also urged leasing companies and financial institutions to collaborate in dry-leasing more wide-body aircraft to Nigerian operators, saying the country needed such aircraft to reciprocate its Bilateral Air Service Agreements, BASAs.
The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, expressed gratitude to the government for supporting domestic airlines.
At the event, the Sales Director, Africa Region, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Moore Ibekwe Jr., said: “A lot of people might not know what it took to get here, having an aircraft through a dry lease in Nigeria. But I can tell you that the journey started in the minister’s office. In this case, the minister saw the importance of having a vibrant aviation sector, and he was willing to partner us, Boeing, and also the leasing company to make sure that Nigeria has a chance to take its rightful place in commercial aviation in Africa.”
