Air France – KLM, the world’s 5th largest airline that grosses up to $26.5 billion in revenues as at 2014, has celebrated 20 years of flying into Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
At an occasion held at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, over the weekend, to mark the airline company’s 20th anniversary, Air France-KLM general manager, Nigeria/Ghana, Jean Raul Tanzin, who is also moving out of the country, said in Port Harcourt that Air France became the first international airline to fly into the Port Harcourt International Airport 20 years ago.
He said that Air France has weathered challenges to deliver quality services to the people of Rivers State and other Niger Delta states. Port Harcourt Airport has remained the major international airport in all of the South-South geopolitical zone.
Meanwhile, the French Consul General, French Embassy, Nigeria, Laurent Poloceaux said French businesses were thriving in Rivers State, with schools, businesses and Air France.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, at the occasion, said Port Harcourt was becoming safer every day because of the commitment of his administration to the security of lives and property. He commended Air France-KLM for keeping faith with Rivers over the past two decades, coupled with other French businesses in the state.
The incoming general manager, Air-France-KLM Nigeria/Ghana, Michel Colleau praised the resilience of Port Harcourt as a city that support vibrant airline and other international businesses.
He promised to maintain the airline company’s standard in offering international flight services to Port Harcourt and other states of the Niger Delta, a region where French companies have made giant strides since 1962, when Total Nigeria began crude oil production in the country.
BEN EGUZOZIE, PORT HARCOURT
