By Bonaventure Melah

Air Peace, the largest airline in West and Central Africa, has taken delivery of dry lease aircraft.

The prestigious brand, which is also the country’s flagship airline, took the delivery barely eleven months after Nigeria signed the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA) Advisory Circular into law.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700NG with the registration number: EL-HRN, became the first dry lease equipment the country would take delivery of 10 years after its blacklisting by lessors.

The aircraft landed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, on Friday, with dignitaries from Boeing, AerCap, Fidelity Bank, Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on the ground to receive the equipment.

Speaking at the delivery ceremony in Lagos, Keyamo described the occasion as emotional and historic for Nigeria.

He regretted that until now, lessors were not willing to lease aircraft on a dry lease basis to Nigerian operators due to a lack of trust and past defaults.

According to him, when the government assumed office in 2023, it took it upon itself to remove Nigeria from the blacklist by signing the IDERA agreement, which would enable operators from the country to access aircraft on a dry lease basis rather than a wet lease, which he said was more expensive to acquire.

The minister expressed regret that the country’s airlines’ inability to access equipment on a dry lease basis had led to foreign airlines dominating the country’s gateways. However, he insisted that with this development, the narrative had changed.

He assured the leasing company of strict compliance with the agreement and encouraged other leasing firms to invest in Nigeria’s sector.

Additionally, Keyamo praised President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, and all Nigerians for their support in growing the aviation industry, reaffirming that the government would continue to support the operators, regardless of their sponsors.

He said, “On record, a wet lease is three times more expensive than a dry lease. Because of what this government has done in terms of bringing back confidence of the world into our system with what we have done with the Cape Town Convention, the world now trusts us with their equipment.
“Dry lease arrangements are burned out of the highest level of integrity and confidence that they have in that system and also in that operator. So, Nigeria has reached that junction where we are now attracting confidence into our aviation sector, and that is a precursor to empowering our local operators.
“We must also thank Air Peace because, apart from the effort of the government, they also looked at the balance sheet of Air Peace. They saw that Air Peace has not been financially reckless and it’s not owing anybody around the world, while also running the airline in a most responsible manner. It’s a combination of both factors.”
Also, the Chairman of Air Peace, Dr. Allen Onyema, in his speech, said that the Federal Government guaranteed the agreement.

Onyema explained that most of the global carriers operate on dry lease aircraft, noting that Nigeria should not be an exception.

He assured that the airline would strictly adhere to the terms and conditions of the agreement and called on other leasing companies to take a cue from AerCap by investing in Nigerian airlines.

He emphasised that Air Peace was shouldering the responsibility of other Nigerian airlines under the agreement, noting that the era of inadequate capacity for the country’s airlines was over.

He assured that more aircraft under lease operations would be delivered to the country at any moment from now.

He added: “Dry lease option is always the best for any operator, because of our population of over 230 million people, our operations in West and Central African regions and international operations, we need over 50 aeroplanes. We can afford to take over 50 aircraft from AerCap and other lessors.
“If we can take up to 10 aircraft in a wet lease module, we can also take over 50 with a dry lease, which is far cheaper and affordable. It’s a new dawn for Nigeria and I am very thankful And I am very thankful to everybody that has made this happen today.”
Additionally, the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Ryan, commended the Nigerian government and Air Peace’s management for implementing the Cape Town Convention.

The Sales Director, African Region, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Moore Ibekwe Jr, said that the dry lease journey between Nigeria and Boeing began about two years ago.

Executive Director, Fidelity Bank, Dr. Kenneth Okpara, said that Air Peace had continued to maintain prudent and transparent financial records.