Nigeria will receive a dry-leased aircraft on October 6 after nearly two decades, according to Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo at the groundbreaking ceremony for Air Peace’s maintenance hangar at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Keyamo claims that after Nigeria was taken off the international blacklist due to the Cape Town Convention’s implementation, the first dry lease will arrive in Nigeria through Air Peace. He claimed that although wet leases were the only options available throughout Nigeria in the previous 20 years, trust in the country’s aviation sector had recovered.
Keyamo claims that the burden of maintaining wet leases primarily fell on customers, leading to exorbitant overhead, maintenance, and ticket prices.
He revealed in a statement: “This is the first time we are going to have a dry lease. Dry lease means that confidence has returned to the Nigerian ecosystem. They are giving you your plane. Control it yourself. I wrote a personal guarantee for Air Peace to get that dry lease. I put my life and my reputation on the line.”
According to Keyamo, Nigeria would save money on aircraft maintenance by using Air Peace’s Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility instead of using foreign currency. He said: “What this is going to save in terms of FX to this country is incredible. Air Peace alone spends about N180 billion yearly for maintenance; imagine what other airlines are spending. Monies that should remain within our jurisdiction went out. That is capital flight. With this facility here, we are going to keep that within Nigeria.
“We are now going to attract people to bring in their money, not only ours, but we are going to attract foreign inflows. In the whole of West Africa and Central Africa, there are no good MROs. The good thing is that this facility will accommodate wide-bodied aircraft. You do not have such in the whole of West Africa and Central Africa,” he added.
Continuing, Keyamo recalled that Embraer would be collaborating with Air Peace to provide technical support at the facility, proving that President Bola Tinubu’s formal visit to Brazil had been fruitful. He stated that the Federal Government would always assist local airlines and that his primary responsibility is to ensure that local operators prosper. Additionally, he stated that the MRO facility would be revolutionary since it would provide pilots with a means of cutting capital flights and earning foreign currency.
As a result, the minister called on commercial banks to rejoin the aviation industry, noting that no industry can develop without the financial institutions’ active participation. He assured them that they would receive their money back and pointed out that the aviation system had been rebalanced, allowing banks to finance the purchase of aircraft, BrandSpur Nigeria news reports.
Keyamo revealed that he had given Air Peace permission to operate on four international routes: Italy, Canada, Paris, and Istanbul. He bemoaned the fact that local airlines only transported 5% of foreign passengers from Nigeria and wished Nigerian airlines could do more.
Recall that on August 28, Air Peace declared that it would start building a Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul facility in Lagos in September, with completion anticipated in 12 to 15 months. The facility, which was created in collaboration with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, was intended to enable local maintenance of Embraer aircraft, saving money and time.
According to Allen Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace: “By September 17, we are going to inaugurate the commencement of construction of our new MRO, and Embraer will operate maintenance for Embraer jets… You will now be able to do it here, and people will also come to Nigeria to do the same.”
Continuing, he emphasised that the airline’s approval to run the Nigeria-Brazil route was determined by its preparedness and capability rather than just its Embraer investment. When Presidents Bola Tinubu and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva formally endorsed the new route, it was anticipated to open in the third quarter of 2025.
Air Peace CEO went on to say: “In Brazil, they signed several MoUs, but what really impressed me was their partnership approach, one that respects our sovereignty and is mutually beneficial… President Lula’s warmth showed a genuine eagerness to work with Nigeria.”
Furthering, Keyamo revealed: “Brazil is the biggest economy in South America, and of course, Nigeria is considered the biggest economy in Africa… So connecting these two economies was very key to both presidents,” emphasising the possibility of boosting bilateral trade, which had decreased from $10 billion to $2 billion in the previous ten years.
Nigeria’s aviation industry has undergone a sea change with the opening of Air Peace’s MRO facility, which will boost confidence, lessen dependency on pricey wet leases, and keep foreign exchange domestic. The project is expected to boost local capacity, draw in foreign investment, and establish Nigeria as a regional centre for aircraft maintenance and aviation services with collaborations like the one with Embraer and the impending arrival of the first dry-leased aircraft.
