United Nigeria Airlines (UN, Enugu) founder and chairman Obiora Okonkwo has called on the federal government to facilitate local airlines' access to small loans, suggesting this would support the growth of the sector, according to several local media reports.
Speaking at a news conference in Abuja on February 12 to mark the airline's fourth anniversary, he said, as reported by The Cable, Business Day, and The Sun newspapers: "One thing that will help the growth of this industry will be for the government to develop a programme that will give a window of access for local operators to single-digit loans."
He also highlighted that multiple charges imposed by government agencies are a major challenge for domestic operators, and urged the federal government to intervene promptly.
"They need to cut down on the charges. The operators pay different agencies of government, in all they are about 20. So the margin of this business is very low. And if you have to meet all those charges, NCAA [Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority], NAMA [Nigerian Airspace Management Agency], FAAN [Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria}, and so on, you are left with nothing. It’s affecting us. We need to have more money to be able to develop, expand, and then also improve the working environment for our staff," he said, as quoted by The Cable.
"So I really think that access to credit is very, very critical, because we are competing with people who have access to foreign exchange credit at a cost of 3% to 5% maximum. So we can compete in the global village."
Forex relief
Still, Okonkwo commended President Bola Tinubu's foreign exchange policy for providing significant relief to the airline industry. Before Tinubu's administration, converting naira to foreign currency was a major challenge, leading to lost contracts due to the inability to access the necessary forex to meet obligations.
"I think that the forex policy of the Tinubu administration has been of tremendous advantage to the airline industry. Before he came into power, it was a nightmare for us to be able to convert naira to foreign currency to pay our obligations. We lost a whole lot of contracts. We lost because you have your money stuck in naira and cannot get the forex that you need,” he said.
He also noted that Nigeria's new commitment towards upholding the Cape Town Convention has helped reduce operational costs. In September 2024, Nigeria signed practice directions under the Federal High Court to enhance compliance with the Cape Town Convention.
"It has opened up a new window for better relationships. Our reputation and integrity in the international aviation industry is better now. So we are happy with it," he said according to Business Day. "Those policies that I had mentioned, the forex policy, the policy of domesticating Cape Town Convention, and then the new practice direction, all those things actually helped to reduce so much of the burden domestic operators hitherto grappled with."
According to The Sun newspaper, Okonkwo also announced his decision to step down as chairman of the airline to focus on the forthcoming Anambra State governorship elections.
United Nigeria Airlines operates seven domestic routes with four company-owned E145s, of which only two are in active service. It wet-leases in an A320-200 from Fly2Sky and an E190 from Marathon Airlines. United Nigeria also operates a company-owned B737-500 on behalf of the Nigerian Air Force (NGR, Lagos).
