Acting MD/CEO, Ibom Air, Mr George Uriesi, speaking at the event on Friday
…airline targets N150bn turnover in 2025
In a continued effort to strengthen its relationships with key industry stakeholders, Ibom Air today hosted a Travel Agents Forum in Lagos, bringing together representatives from across the travel and tourism ecosystem for a robust roundtable conversation.
The forum, held at Bon Hotel, Ikeja, convened travel agents, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), and representatives of prominent travel and tourism bodies including the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP), and the League of Aviation and Airport Correspondents (LAAC).
The session was attended by Ibom Air’s top management, Amaka Echetabu, Director Airline services, Aniekan Essienette, Group Manager Marketing and Communications and led by the Acting MD/CEO, Mr George Uriesi.
In his remarks, Mr Uriesi emphasized the critical role that travel agents and tourism stakeholders play in shaping the airline’s growth and customer engagement strategy.
“Our success as an airline is deeply connected to the partnerships we foster within the industry. This forum allows us to listen, learn, and co-create value with our most trusted partners,” he said.
The roundtable conversation explored actionable strategies to enhance collaboration, improve customer experiences, and create stronger commercial alignment between Ibom Air and its partners.
In responding to input from the travel agents, Uriesi said the airline was on a growth trajectory and was thankful for the contribution of travel agents to the airline’s revenue since they came on board 6 months ago.
He assured them that they had come on board at a time when the airline was just getting into its growth phase, which promised mutually beneficial business to them and to the airline.
He said that the airline was looking at turnover nearer to N150b in 2025, from its turnover of N96b in 2024. The next phase of growth would come from the entry into service of the new terminal at Victor Attah International Airport, which would allow the airline transit from a point to point carrier, to a hub and spoke network carrier.
A highlight of the event was the presentation of 6 months service certificates to active business partners present at the event, as well as awards to the top 5 travel agents in terms of revenue contribution, acknowledging their immense contributions to the revenue growth of the airline.
He also revealed that the airline will join Global Distribution System (GDS) by October to expand its reach globally.
Speaking on the airline’s expansion plan, Uriesi disclosed that plans are underway to begin operations to Malabo, Douala, Sao Tome and other African cities.
He disclosed that the airline will soon commence operations from its new terminal which is particularly built to support its operations..
Uriesi noted that the terminal when operational, will accommodate the biggest and best aircraft in the world.
“We are about to expand our operations to most African cities and to those places where Nigerians find difficult to access, we want to what Asky airline be has done in Lome but it takes time, discipline and determination. We are about to start operating from our new terminal. This is the only hub terminal in the country, it is built to support our operations, we are going to match it with the best aircraft in the world.
“But above all, we want to establish reliability, we are going to be on GDS by October 2025 to widen our reach because a number of foreign airlines have approached us for partnership but they are also asking questions relating to reliability. We have a very carefully developed, strategic ambitious plan , we have a 9 aircraft fleet and we fly to seven destinations but we believe that growth should be pragmatic, we increase our frequency and add the capacity to sustain it. Our core values are reliability and On-Time performance, we also want feedback from our travel partners so that we can meet their expectations. Last year, our revenue was N96 billion. We have just finished our half year and I’m sure our revenue will be approaching N150 at the end of this year.” he said.
Speaking on flight delays and cancellations, Uriesi noted that the airline loses more when flights are cancelled or rescheduled, adding that it is worse with smaller airlines.
Mrs Amaka Echetabu, Director Airline services, speaking at the event
“Any flight flight canceled is a painful event , every rescheduling is bad and we are really trying to prevent it but the other plan is to keep one plane redundant but the burden is huge , we will pay charges whether the plane is flying or not, it’s like killing our business but passengers would not understand this, operating a small airline in Nigeria is extremely dangerous, we are the second largest airline in Nigeria and we are trying to grow fast to avoid all these.”, he said.
The Airline thanked its business partners and promised to continue to strengthen its relationship with them, as they are a key stakeholder group for the airline.
Ibom Airlines Limited is a limited liability company wholly owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government. It aims to set the standard as the airline of choice for passengers by focusing on schedule reliability, on-time departures, and excellent service.
Ibom Air’s fleet includes seven Bombardier CRJ 900s and two Airbus A220-300s, serving seven domestic destinations and Accra, Ghana.
