Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel has announced the take off of the Akwa Ibom State owned new airline company.

The governor who disclosed this, weekend during the annual state Christmas carol, on the theme, “Let the people say Amen,” said that this will be the first state government owned airline in Africa and ready for commercial scheduled flights.

Vanguard gathered that the airline currently has a fleet of three aircraft, but service will commence with two aircrafts which have already been branded in Canada and will land in Uyo, the state capital by the end of the year, while the third aircraft will join the fleet by February 2019.

“Our state owned and run Obong Victor Attah International Airport has a Category 2 runaway and work is on-going on the second taxiway. To ensure that our state remains the destination of choice for foreign investors, we are launching Ibom Air, our wholly owned airline that will lessen the problems currently being encountered by our numerous air travellers,” he said.

The governor, who used the occasion to reel out his achievements since 2015, said that his administration had performed creditably in all sectors, especially in the areas of rural electrification, roads, health care delivery, industrialisation, among other key developmental projects.

He maintained that his administration was poised to make the state an industrial hub in the country and West Africa sub-region with a view to creating jobs and opportunities for growth.

Emmanuel explained that he came into office when the country was going through the worst economic crises in her recent history and even when most state governments could not pay their workers’ salaries, he went ahead to clear 10 years backlog of pensions and gratuities spanning 2001 to 2011

•Sourced from a Vanguard report

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