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Nigeria’s flag carrier, Air Nigeria, on Wednesday in Lagos formally made public its first re-branded aircraft.

Unveiling the
airplane on the tarmac of the new domestic terminal, Murtala Mohammed
International 2 (MMA2), the management of the carrier told aviation
correspondents that the new name will be on all its fleet in due course.

“We told you a week
ago that the aircraft will arrive and to the glory of God, we have it
here, this is the first aircraft that will be named Air Nigeria and
this is to demonstrate how far we are progressing in the turn-around,”
said Jimoh Ibrahim, group managing director for the airline.

Congratulating
Nigerians on the feat, Mr. Ibrahim promised that the rebranded Nigerian
Eagle Airline, formerly known as Virgin Nigeria, that is now Air
Nigeria has come to stay, adding that more aeroplanes are going to be
added to the airline’s fleet.

“I can assure that
on this project, I am committed and I want to congratulate Nigerians
for having an airline of their own that they can be proud of. Whether
you like it or not, it has come to stay, I have no apology for anyone
that doesn’t like it,” he said.

“More aircraft will
start coming in from now, we expect the arrival of two aircraft in the
livery of Air Nigeria in the next 15 days, thereafter another four will
arrive and then we will have a dozen aircraft by the 1st of October;
and by then we would have finished with the first phase of the
turnaround, we will then move to Human resources.”

Early this month,
Air Nigeria at a briefing held at its headquarters in Lagos, disclosed
that the new name of its carrier became necessary in order to make the
airline fully indigenous, adding that the change was effected sequel to
the resolution of the board on May 14, and that the name has been
approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and has been
registered with a certificate number RC501975.

Indebtedness to banks

On the airline’s
debt with Guarantee Trust Bank, the NICON group boss disclosed that Air
Nigeria has cleared all that it owed the financial institution, and
that the case in court has been closed.

“On GTB, I am sure
that you know that the issue has been rested, but don’t ask how it was
rested, that is the job of the turnaround. That has come to an end, all
those unwanted criticism that GTB is a problem will not happen.

“The GTB case is
dead and it has been discontinued, for what we did was to pay after
having a meeting; we did not restructure the debt, we fully discharged
the debt and we are not indebted to Guarantee Trust to one Kobo again,”
said Mr. Ibrahim.

The airline’s boss
promised that its indebtedness to another bank in the country will be
cleared shortly, adding that loans are necessary for a company’s
survival.

“We are dealing with two banks, we’ve paid one, the other one will
get its pay in the next two weeks, for we are to pay them hundred per
cent and they will give us a letter of non-indebtedness and their debt
will become zero,” he said “It is not as if you should not take loans,
you can take it and then pay back, we will still take more loans but we
want to know the capacity of paying back what we have taken.”