Ibom Air: Our MRO facility will save Nigeria $1b

The estimated $1b annually spent on the maintenance of aircraft outside the country by indigenous airlines may drop following the completion and use of Ibom Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, George Uriesi, the COO of Ibom Air has said. This is as the Federal Government has been called upon to domesticate aircraft maintenance and training in a bid to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange. Speaking with Nairametrics, Uriesi said that the Ibom MRO could occupy two Boeing 747 aircraft side by side, while the facility could contain about eight aircraft at a go. He regretted that most Nigerian airlines carry out maintenance of their fleet in other African countries like Ethiopia, South Africa, Europe and America, thereby further depleting the value of the naira. Statistics released recently by the Aviation Round Table (ART), indicated that there are about 104 aircraft among 11 scheduled Nigerian operators. The brands comprise Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, ATR, Q400 and others. The 104 aircraft are however apart from the private jets, which are Bombardier, NetJets, Gulf Stream, Cessna and Dassault Falcon, which are equally about 100 nationwide. <br/>