Ibom Air, a wholly owned airline of the Akwa Ibom government, has taken delivery of the fourth Bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft.
The aircraft arrived Lagos from Calgary, Canada, at 10:48pm local time, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, according to a statement by the company.
Akan Okon, former commissioner for aviation in the state who is currently in charge of economic development and Ibom deep seaport, also confirmed the aircraft arrived on Tuesday.
Ibom Air expressed delight over the aircraft, adding that it was the first of the two recently purchased Bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft, in line with its fleet expansion strategy.
“With this addition, our fleet grows to four aircraft. This particular aircraft, with registration number 5N-BXP, made its maiden commercial flight in May 2014,” Ibom Air said in the statement.
“Thus, Ibom Air continues to operate the lowest average fleet age amongst Nigeria’s airlines. This fleet strategy is in line with our vision to be a world-class African regional airline,“ it said.
The statement noted that a key benefit of Ibom Air’s very modern fleet of Bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft is that they all come fitted with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters.
According to it, HEPA filters are high-intensity filters that do not just filter dust, but effectively capture greater than 99 percent of the airborne microbes in the filtered air, including microscopic particles such as bacteria and viruses.
It added that cabin air in HEPA–equipped aircraft generally passes through the filters 20-30 times per hour, removing contaminants and greatly enhancing the quality of air in the cabin.
The company thanked the minister of aviation, Federal Ministry of Aviation, NCAA, NAMA, FAAN and the Akwa Ibom State government for making it possible for them to ferry in the aircraft during this period when the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world.
It stated that keeping the aircraft in Canada while waiting for the pandemic to be over would incur huge and unnecessary hard currency costs for the company.
Ibom Air thanked its customers for their continued loyalty and assured them that “Ibom Air is eagerly preparing to resume our superior services to them, once conditions allow for operations again”.
