Dana Air joins Ibom Air to pull out of planned flight suspension

Dana Air, one of Nigeria’s carriers, has joined Ibom Air to pull out of plans by most airlines in Nigeria to shut down flight operations from Monday.

This decision is coming barely 48 hours after the Airline Operators of Nigeria, (AON) disclosed plans to shut down operations following the continuous increase in Aviation fuel.

In a statement by Dana Air, it explained that following the recent press statement issued by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), it has become necessary for it to take a stand in the overall interest of its guests, and corporate partners, staff and the industry at large.

The airline stated that while Dana Air agrees with the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on all the challenges facing domestic airlines in Nigeria and has on many occasions actively participated in the collective and ongoing engagement of relevant authorities on the urgent need to tackle the many issues domestic airlines have been grappling with which includes the skyrocketing cost of Jet A1, it has taken a decision not to join the suspension of flights on May 9, 2022.

“We acknowledge that the present cost of jet A1 is unsustainable and should not be passed to the flying public, we, therefore, call on the government to act urgently to resolve these unending operational challenges while Dana Air will continue to support every effort by the AON to achieve a quick and peaceful resolution in the interest of our dear country Nigeria,” the airline said.

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.