The management of Ibom Air, says it will continue to provide topnotch customer services to its customers across the country including schedule reliability which it describes as its Unique Selling Point.
The airline which is a little over a year old in the industry has five aircraft in its fleet and currently operates three routes within the country.
In an interview in Uyo, Aniekan Essien-Ette, group manager, marketing and communications of the airline said by keeping to time, has brought some level of accountability on the part of the traveling public adding that it is no longer business as usual for those who patronize its services. So from check in to touch down, we ensure that we anticipate customers’ needs and we meet them.
“One of our unique selling points has been our time reliability. We tell you we are going to depart at a certain time, we ensure that at the dot of that time, we are already taxing away. So what that has done is to put some level of accountability on the part of the traveling public,’’ she said.
Essien-Ette who disclosed plans by the airline to expand to other towns and cities in the country “as soon as more airports are given the green light to do so” said it would rather leave a customer down than miss the timing because once you start doing that, it has a kind of effect.
“So we tell our public as we resume from the COVID-19 lockdown, based on the protocol and the rules, you need to be at the airport at good enough time. So you check-in and board at the appropriate time. We have kept to our promise to our customers which is to give them the kind of services that they have been yearning for. “
Lamenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry, she said though it is global which she said has affected many airlines across the world, business activities in the industry were gradually picking up after the disruptions.
READ ALSO: Ibom Air to commence daily flights from Enugu to Lagos, Abuja Sept. 14(Opens in a new browser tab)
“We are just enjoying a month of airport reopening. There has been a bit of travel apathy knowing that the age demographic of travelers cut across between certain ages. Some people have been ascribed as the most vulnerable. Some people have become reserved when making travel decisions. It has been slow but it is slowly coming up. There hasn’t been a decline. When we started, it was difficult to get the plane full, but slowly and surely, it is coming up and we are hoping that as more locations open up across the world, it would affect traveling locally as well, she said.
Essien-Ette who praised the Akwa Ibom government for the vision of establishing the airline however maintained that the day-to-day running of the company is being handled by professionals without any interference by the government.
“You need to give it up to the Akwa Ibom government. It had the vision to own an airline and they did. However, they have totally left the running of the airline to professionals. Ibom air is being run like any other self-respected business without any form of interference from the government. The government set the platform for it to run, however, the day-to-day running of the airline has nothing to do with the government of the day. “
She solicited assistance from the regulatory authorities in the form of tax waivers and incentives to support the industry which she described as crucial to the economy.
“In other climes, there have been waivers of taxes, maybe some incentives, support the industry because it is a crucial industry, I would want to give it to the minister for aviation, and then the regulatory authorities because during the course of the lockdown, there was a massive engagement to make sure everybody was compliant and we were able to kick off the business. They want them to focus more in the area of taxation and any form of palliative to help the airlines,’’ she said.
Ibom Air acquires fifth aircraft | TheCable
