As commercial flight operations are set to begin at Bayelsa International Airport, the state government has chosen to partner with Ibom Air for commercial flights.
Discussions started at the weekend when Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, deputy governor of Bayelsa State led a high-powered state delegation to Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State for a meeting with his counterpart.
Ewhrudjakpo, in a statement by his senior special assistant on Media, Doubara Atasi, pointed out that the choice of Ibom Air was informed by proximity and good bilateral relations between the two states.
He said Akwa Ibom has proved itself as a dependable neighbour to Bayelsa State in many ways over the years, which needed to be reciprocated “in the spirit of give and take”.
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Ewhrudjakpo was optimistic that the partnership deal would soon be sealed for the airline to commence flights on two routes with the highest traffic, Bayelsa-Lagos and Bayelsa-Abuja.
He assured Bayelsans and the public of the present administration’s commitment to ensure smooth operations at the state airport, which, according to him, is adjudged as one of the best in the country by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Ewhrudjakpo explained that the state government is applying the business principle of starting small to grow big by going for a 50-seater aircraft in its present deal with IbomAir to promote socio-economic activities in the state.
He likened efforts for acquiring the operational licence to Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom adding that the state government has plans to do business with other airlines in the near future.
H”Basically, we are here to discuss how we can have a mutually beneficial partnership with your airline, Ibom Air. And our target is on any of your aircraft that has the capacity of about 50 seaters because we don’t want to start too big.
“We believe that if we don’t start anything now, we will have the issue of, why did you rush to get the commercial license? So, we want to see how we can conclude with you and start operations,” he said.
“We have decided to choose Ibom Air because those who stay near each other have the tendency of exchanging pleasantries and other good things.
“And so, we decided that instead of going to meet commercial airlines like Orleans and AirPeace and then even the New United Airlines, we agreed to start with Akwa Ibom, our neighbours, to set the ball rolling.
“Our intention is to do two flights for now: a trip to and from Abuja as well as a trip to and from Lagos. These are the major cities that our people visit very often for now either for business or for any other purpose.”
