Nigeria Air aircraft back to regular service for Ethiopian Airlines, live tracker shows

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft which was displayed by Hadi Sirika, former minister of aviation as belonging to Nigeria Air is back to regular flight service for Ethiopian Airlines, live tracker has shown.

Latest information on flight live tracker ‘flightrader24.com’ show the flight is back to regular service for Ethiopian Airlines on its Addis Ababa- Mogadishu route, which appears to be the same route it flew before being brought into Nigeria and presented as Nigeria Air plane.

The flight history of the aircraft show the aircraft had on Wednesday afternoon left Addis Ababa to Mogadishu and had done a return flight back to Addis Ababa by Wednesday evening.

David Hundeyin, independent journalist on Wednesday via his tweeter handle, again drew people’s attention to the flight tracker.

“The “Nigeria Air” Boeing 737-800 has had its hurried wrap job removed and is now back in regular service for @flyethiopian on its usual Addis Ababa- Mogadishu route – the same route it flew as recently as last week before being “commissioned” in Abuja by @hadisirika,” Hundeyin stated.

BusinessDay had on Sunday reported that the flight live tracker ‘flightrader24.com’ showed the Nigeria Air plane was back to Ethiopia where it was brought in from.

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BusinessDay’s had earlier reported Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation contacted Ethiopian airlines to provide an aircraft that would be presented to Nigerians as an aircraft belonging to Nigeria Air.

Ethiopian airline had obliged by repainting and rebranding one of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Investigations show that the Boeing 737-800 has registration Number ET-APL, Mode S Q4005C and serial number: 40965/4075.

Further investigations show that the national carrier is about 11 years and
and first flight with the aircraft was done on 22nd June 2012 as Ethiopian Airlines aircraft.

The aircraft became Malawi Airlines on 16th February 2014 and released to Ethiopian Airlines on 12th August 2015.

BusinessDay’s checks show that the aircraft changed colours but ownership remains that of Ethiopian Airlines.

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.