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By Chinelo Obogo
Air Sierra Leone (ASL), the country’s privately-owned flag carrier, has partnered with Nigeria’s Xejet to use its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and a single 50-seater Embraer E145 aircraft to commence operations between Freetown and Lagos, Daily Sun reports.
Xejet’s Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Iza, has been actively engaged over the past few months, traveling to Sierra Leone to meet with officials from the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) to secure the necessary approvals. Concurrently, Iza and his team have also met with officials of Nigeria’s Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to obtain the required air carrier permit. The partnership will see Xejet providing three aircraft to ASL, with the first, 5N-BZZ (14500855), recently undergoing maintenance and being repainted in ASL livery at O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. This aircraft has already been cleared by the regulator and is ready for operations. Additionally, Xejet has another E145 owned by the company and one leased from ACIA Aero, with an additional aircraft expected for delivery soon.
ASL was unveiled last October in the West African country by the SLCAA Director-General, Musayeroh Barrie, and while the startup undergoes its certification process, regional flights will be conducted under Xejet’s AOC.
In addition to this collaboration, Xejet, successfully transitioned from being a non-scheduled to a scheduled operator since November last year when it commenced its Abuja to Lagos operations. Iza stated that this shift allows the company to offer regular flights and improve operational efficiency. He emphasised that transitioning to scheduled operations has always been part of Xejet’s strategic plan, and the company successfully amended its AOC to reflect this change.
Daily Sun also learned that XEJet Engineering, a subsidiary of Xejet, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony in Abuja on Monday where it secured a 40,000 m² land area for constructing a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) and maintenance facility.
