Ibom Air loses four billion to covid-19
Akwa Ibom state government has said the state-owned Airline has lost about four billion Naira (4b) in the last three months that domestic flight operations were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Udoh who made this known in a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Uyo said the state government has however approved financial assistance to the company to enable it to get back to business once domestic flights operation commences in the country.
His words, “The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the aviation industry globally, resulting in many airlines requiring a financial life-line to get back to business. The palliative is to enable the Airline to make necessary preparations as the Nigerian domestic flight commences operation soon.
“Providing financial assistance to the Ibom Airline became necessary given that Air travel in Nigeria have been grounded for over three months, causing a revenue loss in the region of N4billion by Ibom Airline”
The Commissioner stressed that global governments were providing support to their Airlines to help them cushion the effect of the COVID-19 crisis.
He explained that American Airlines secured $5.8 billion support, Delta Airline $5.4 billion, and Air France-KLM $12billion from their respective governments.
He assured that when domestic flight operations commence that Ibom Airline would be among the safest because the Aircrafts acquired by the company are Anti-virus complaints.
“Therefore, when the suspension on a domestic flight is lifted, Ibom Airline will offer one of the safest domestic Air travel options during this COVID-19 era. One key benefit is that all the Aircraft come fitted with High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters”