Domestic airlines involved in aircraft operations that transport passengers, cargo, or mail for remuneration or hire. In Nigeria, domestic airlines are regulated and under the supervision of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA). For any airline to operate in Nigeria, there are several quality assurance assessments that must be performed to ensure the integrity of the air transport industry.
This is a list of domestic airlines operating in Nigeria:
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Air Peace
Air Peace is a privately owned domestic airline that was established in 2013 by Allen Onyema, a lawyer and entrepreneur. The airline provides passenger and charter services and its flight destinations cover a range of major cities in Nigeria which include, Abuja, Akure, Asaba, Benin City, Calabar, Enugu, Gombe, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Owerri, Port Harcourt City, Uyo, Warri and Yola, as well as several countries African countries that include, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, South Africa and Sierra Leone.
Though the fleet of aircraft of Air Peace numbers twenty-eight comprising of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-500, Boeing 737 Max 8, Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 777-300, Embraer ERJ-145 and Embraer E195-E2, only eight are operational with the others grounded for maintenance purposes as of the second quarter of 2021. The Head Office of Air Peace is situated within the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
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Allied Air
Established in 1998 for air cargo services, operating both scheduled and chartered operations within Nigeria and the African Continent. It has its main hub at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State. The fleet of the Allied Air consists of three Boeing 737-400Fs and a Boeing 737-800F. The airline operates scheduled travels to the following destinations, Accra, Freetown, Monrovia, Entebbe, and Malabor. Liege is a regular operation destination. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Allied Air is Val Tongo.
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Arik Air
Arik Air is a domestic airline operating in Nigeria and also offering a network of travel destinations within Africa. The airline operates from two major hubs which include the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. However, the Head Office of Arik Air is the Arik Air Aviation Centre in Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State. It presently has over twenty-one aircraft in its fleet, though not the entire fleet is operational. In 2017, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) assumed control of the airline due to its crippling debts and financial stress.
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Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Limited
At the onset, Aero Contractors was owned by Schreiner Airways B. V. of Netherlands when it was officially registered in Nigeria. From 1973 until 2004 there were several shareholders of the airline including, Schrenier Airways B.V, which then sold its shares of 40% to CHC Helicopter (CHC), and the prominent Ibru family owning 60℅ of the company. By 2010, the Ibru family assumed 100% ownership, after CHC sold its interests of the company on July 1, 2010.
After a drastic industrial action in 2013 that grounded flight operations of the company for eighteen days which resulted in great financial loss, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria intervened and took over the oversight of the carrier. This move made the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) own 60% of the shares and the rest were in the Ibru family’s interest.
The domestic destinations covered by the airline’s scheduled services include Abuja, Asaba, Benin City, Calabar, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Uyo and Sokoto. The airline’s aircraft fleet includes Boeing 737-400, Boeing 737-500, De Havilland Dash 8-Q200, De Havilland Dash 8-Q300 and De Havilland Dash 8-Q400.
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Azman Air Services Limited
Established in 2010 by Addulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, Azman Air is a domestic airline operating domestic passenger services in Nigeria. It began scheduled operations in 2014. The airline’s network covers these destinations, Abuja, Asaba, Benin City, Birnin Kebbi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Maiduguri, Owerri, Port Harcourt, and Dakar, Senegal. The Azman Air fleet comprises of Airbus A340-600, Boeing 737-300, and Boeing 737-500. The main hub from which Azman Air Services operates is the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
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Dana Air
This is a domestic airline operating scheduled flight services to the following destinations in Nigeria; Abuja, Enugu, Lagos, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo. Dana Air has its headquarters within the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State. The following aircrafts are part of the airline’s fleet, Boeing 737-300, McDonnel Douglas MD-82, and McDonnel MD-83.
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Dornier Aviation Nigeria
This airline was established in 1979 and headquartered in the Old Kaduna Airport. This airline does not operate scheduled flights within the country but engages in charter service operations. Agricultural flying, aerial photography and emergency medical evacuation services are part of the capacities in which Dornier Aviation operates. There are five Dornier 328-100 aircraft carrying out the airline’s services.
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Green Africa Airways
This is a newly established airline founded in June 2015, but officially began operations on August 12, 2021. The Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State serves as the operating base of Green Africa Airways. Presently the airline has three ATR-72-600 aircrafts as part of its fleet but orders have been made for fifty Airbus A220-300 and 100 Boeing 737 Max 8. Babawande Afolabi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Green Africa Airways.
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Ibom Air
This is a State-owned domestic airline of the Akwa Ibom State Government. This airline was established in 2019 and operations kicked of the same year with the first flight taking off on June 7, 2019. The airline has the following aircrafts in its fleet, two Airbus A220 and five Bombardier CRJ 900. The destinations that is covered in Ibom Air’s network include Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Uyo, and Calabar. The Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State serves as the headquarters and operating base of Ibom Air.
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Max Air
Max Air was established in 2008 and operates domestic, regional, and international flight operations. The domestic destinations network includes Abuja, Bauchi, Benin City, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Maiduguri, Owerri, Sokoto, and Yola. Medina and Jeddah are also part of the airline’s international destination network.
The Max Air Airline is headquartered in the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano State.
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Overland Airways
This airline was founded in 2002. With the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, as operating hub headquartered, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport serving as another hub, the Overland Airways service the following domestic destinations, Abuja, Akure, Asaba, Bauchi, Dutse, Ibadan, Jalingo, Ilorin and Lagos.
The aircrafts in Overland Airways include, ATR 42, ATR 72 and Beechcraft 1900D.
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United Nigeria Airways
This is a private airline that is a subsidiary of Private Airlines Services Limited, founded in 2020. Obiorah Okonkwo acts in the capacity of the Executive Chairman of the Airline. It began operation officially in 2021, servicing the following destinations, Abuja, Enugu, Owerri, Lagos and Port Harcourt. The Enugu International Airport serves as the operating base. The airport has four fifty-seater capacity Embraer ERJ-145LR.
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West Link Airlines
West Link Airlines was incorporated as a private limited company on December 31, 1999. However, it was not until 2010 that West Link recapitalised in conformity with the Federal Government directive and obtained its Air Transport Licence in April 2010. West Link Airlines attained the Air Operator Licence in July 2010, and got certified three years after in May 2013. The airline engages in the following services; private jet charter, commercial jet charter, air cargo charter and block charter.
Caltain Ibrahim Mshelia is the founder and Chief Executive Officer. Its headquarters is in 51 Iya Abubakar Crescent, Jabi FCT 900108, Abuja, with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, as well as the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State act as operating hubs for the West Link Airlines.