United Nigeria Airlines and Cronos Airlines have entered into a strategic partnership to establish a Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nigeria, aimed at reducing operational costs and boosting the global competitiveness of Nigerian airlines.
As part of the collaboration, both airlines signed an interline and codeshare agreement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Lagos.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, United Nigeria Chairman and CEO, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, highlighted the absence of main base maintenance facilities for aircraft within Nigeria, with only line maintenance services currently available.
Okonkwo noted that only line maintenance services are currently available within Nigeria, with no facilities for main base maintenance. While he did not disclose the setup costs for the new facility, he mentioned that basic aircraft maintenance outside Nigeria typically costs at least half a million dollars, excluding any major repairs.
Okonkwo expressed confidence that establishing an MRO facility in Nigeria would help operators avoid the high costs of sending aircraft abroad for maintenance, while also conserving the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
He added that having such a facility locally would address flight delays caused by Aircraft on Ground (AoG) situations and related operational challenges.
He said, “As you may know, we do not have in Nigeria an MRO to do main base services, we can only do line services in some of our fleets.”
“They have to fly across countries to be serviced. This is costing us a lot of resources. These are things that impact on the overall cost of operations.”
“We have no doubt that with this, we should not only be saving cost of operation for United Nigeria, we would also be offering services to other operators who might require it.”
“That will also help the nation to save our scarce foreign exchange and open up a new door for other aspects of strong participation in our nation, because other countries will also visit us to enjoy or benefit from our services.”
Okonkwo praised the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority for its established regulatory procedures.
Benefits of the interline and codeshare agreement
Regarding the airline’s regional and international operations, he stated that the interline and codeshare agreement would enable the airline to establish necessary infrastructure and take essential steps to integrate its services.
- He highlighted that this would strengthen regional operations, enhancing air travel within the region and supporting commercial activities
- The Chief Executive Officer of Cronos Airlines, Mr. Andreas Kaiafas, explained that the partnership stemmed from a need to address the regional gap in aircraft maintenance. He noted that the facility would serve not only Nigerian airlines but also others across the region, with a focus on optimizing costs.
- Kaiafas highlighted the current challenges, pointing out that it typically takes five to six hours to position aircraft for maintenance.
He emphasized that reducing this to a two-hour flight within the region would ease logistical hurdles, such as visa issues and hotel accommodations, which significantly drive up operational costs.
