All is now set for the resumption of regular flight operations at the Akwa Ibom International Airport Uyo by Dana Air, a major airline operator in Nigeria.

According to the Akwa Ibom state Commissioner for Information and Social Re-Orientation, Mr. Aniekan Umanah, the state government has approved the re-launching of flight operations to and from the airport on Monday, January 18, by Dana Air.

He said the flight which routes shall include Lagos and Abuja shall afford the people of the state opportunity of travelling out with ease, and also make it easier for investors to come in and do business in the state. Mr Umanah reiterated Governor Akpabio’s unrelenting effort at making Akwa Ibom a leading economic hub in the Gulf of Guinea.

The information boss maintained that with the ready availability of great investment potentials, the state government welcome investors, both in the airport and other emerging opportunities.

Meanwhile commenting on the development, Jacky Hathiramani, Chief Executive Officer of Dana Air, said “we are pleased to extend our world-class services to the good people of Akwa Ibom state. Indeed, the addition of Nigeria’s fledging aviation industry and in fulfilment of our promise to fly to key destinations across the federation”.

“At Dana Air, we recognize the importance of Akwa Ibom state in the socio-economic development of the country as an oil producing state. With the state playing host to several multinational companies in the oil and gas industry, we are confident that our new services from Uyo to Lagos and Abuja will make the state even more attractive to investors” the Chief Executive Officer explained.

Hathiramani said that the new services from Uyo to Lagos will operate seven days a week, Monday to Sunday. In his words, “from our operational base at MMA2 Lagos, we will operate one daily flight to Uyo at 10:35hrs with a return flight from Uyo to Lagos at 15:30hrs. From Uyo to Abuja at 12:15hrs with a return trip to Uyo at 13:50hrs.

Dana Air currently operates (12) flights daily on the Lagos-Abuja-Lagos route, four(4) flights daily on the Lagos-Port Harcourt-Lagos route, two(2) flights daily on the Lagos-Enugu-Lagos and Lagos-Kano-Lagos routes and two (2) daily connecting flights between the cities of Abuja and Kano.

At Present, the Dana Air fleet consists of four (4) Boeing MD83aircrafts which have a higher number of passenger seats and a larger cargo capacity than currently available in the country. The airline offers a two class service with 12 seats in its dedicated smart class business cabin and 128 seats in its spacious Travellers Class Economy cabin. Dana Air places a high premium on safety. The airline has a technical partnership with Iberia for maintenance of aircrafts in its fleet and adheres strictly to the maintenance schedule for its aircrafts as prescribed by the manufacturers and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.