Ibom Air, owned by the government of Akwa Ibom State is making plans to go regional but would first look at travel needs before embarking on route expansion.
The airline’s group marketing manager, Mrs. Aniekan Essienette, disclosed this during the carrier’s inaugural flight to Calabar.
She said the airline was being strategic and would take its time in carving out its niche and establish itself as a carrier of note.
“So Ibom Air has an expansion plan which cuts across the entire Nigeria. What we are doing is we are looking at going to various locations where there are needs. But we want to position ourselves as the regional airline of choice for people traveling in Nigeria that require safety and comfort.”
“Destination is on a need basis and we are very strategic about how we come out. So it’s not just about flying an airline. We look at where the needs are and then we drive our resources towards that.
“Certainly, Ibom Air is here to differentiate itself and to make sure we are the regional airline of note, covering Nigeria nationally and in time to come well and to expand internationally as well,” she said.
On low load factor experienced by airlines after flight restart, Essienette said Ibom Air was doing better each day adding that the trend would continue as more passengers fly.
“Given the COVID-19 there is still travel apathy amongst our passengers but it’s picking up and we have to allow the public to come in on their own. What we are doing is getting publicity out there to assure that if you have concerns about flying or the convenience of gone flight, we have you covered.
“Airlines are HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air)-fortified with filers which filter air every three to five minutes. So in fact our aircraft is the best kind of air you can breathe right now and you can take that to the bank. And when you know we can get you to your destination safely and secure, it would give you the confidence to fly.
“The load factor…there is travel apathy but based on our forecast we have exceeded most of our projections on load factor and they are picking up on a daily basis.
“Before this time out we were having about 70-80 per cent load factor but of course…to apathy it’s low but it’s coming up a bit and based on our projection, it has exceeded our projection for this period,” she added.
On the whole, she said the airline aims at providing a different experience from the norm and showcasing service excellence.
“Our paramount aim for now is to give Nigerian travellers, everybody traveling within the Nigerian airspace, a different experience. The experience is scheduled reliability, on time departure and superior services. We want our passengers to break away from the norm of travel delays and tacky services, not to cast aspersions at anyone but we are bringing something different to the table.
“And what we are selling to our passengers is: you want to get somewhere on time you can count on us to get that to happen and that is the first thing we are pushing of course you know that the profit will come but when people know that they can trust us we will be assured that we will have the most passengers and the profit will come. As much as we are profit- driven, we are more particular about given an experience to outer passengers for now.”
