Nigeria to get first dry-lease aircraft October 6, 20 years after 'blacklist'

Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has said that the first aircraft under a dry lease agreement will arrive in Nigeria on October 6, 2025, more than 20 years after Nigeria was blacklisted from dry aircraft agreements.

He stated that the reforms of the Federal Government on aviation, as they affect Nigerian airlines’ ability to get a cheaper source of aircraft financing through the dry-lease arrangement, are paying off.

The Minister, who stated this on Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony of the construction of Air Peace, otherwise known as Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, disclosed that he gave a personal guarantee letter for the Nigerian flag carrier to get aircraft on dry-lease.

A dry lease is an aircraft leasing agreement where the owner (lessor) provides the aircraft to the lessee without crew, maintenance, or insurance.

The lessee takes on full responsibility for the aircraft’s operation, including placing it on their Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), providing their own flight and cabin crew, funding maintenance, and arranging insurance.

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He said, “We are stepping in for private businesses to grow. We are doing this not for Air Peace but other airlines”.

Last year, Nigeria exited the list among nations with bad records of defaulting on aircraft agreement lease rentals.

This follows as the country complied fully with the Cape Town Convention on dry-leasing of aircraft by preparing and signing the Practice Direction; the country’s global rating status has once again soared higher.

Last year, the rating jumped from 70.5 to 75.5 points. As a result, the Aviation Working Group (AWG), which is co-chaired by Boeing and Airbus companies removed the country from its watchlist.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.