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Cross River State Governor,
Senator Bassey Otu has formally declared open the commencement of a renewed
strategic partnership agreement entered by the state government with the
management of Aero Contractors Airline to fly the air routes to and fro Abuja
and Lagos using the state-owned aircrafts, named “Cally”, a Beoing 737.
The formal operations under the
renewed agreement started yesterday with the landing in Calabar, of one of the
two aircrafts earlier purchased for the state by the immediate past Governor,
Prof. Ben Ayade.
The aircrafts are branded Cally
and are operated by Aero but before now, had ceased operating due to some
undisclosed reasons.
The new administration led by Otu
decided to address the issues that affected the earlier partnership agreement
which was first entered into with Aero by the immediate past administration.
Under the renewed strategic
agreement as described by governor, the government wants to ensure that air
travellers can easily travel into and out of Calabar to meet appointments
instead of previous situation where flights into and out of Calabar were
problematic and the air fares doubled the amount obtainable in similar routes
across the country.
The governor, while welcoming the
management of Aero Airline that landed the Margaret Ekpo International Airport,
with the Cally Aircraft Boeing 737 expressed delight that the operations will
cover the annual 32 days Christmas festival in the state that begins on
December 1st to January 2nd of the new year.
Otu commended his predecessor for
the vision to position the state in the aviation industry by purchasing the two
aircraft which the Aero management confirmed one was flying and the other not
flying.
He said his administration has
come to ensure the two aircrafts are up and functional as well as expand the
aircraft number by having three additional aircrafts in a near future.
“(It’s) not just the two aircrafts that you
will be seeing; we have about three more aircrafts that will be joining them
not too long from now. Calabar has been an international airport and we want to
raise it to that standard,” he said.
He thanked the officials of the
aviation ministry, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and others that
made it possible that flights will soon start landing in Calabar airport up to
9.pm.”They are restoring the lighting system and they are bringing Calabar
airport to full functionality; So that it will actually function as an international
airport,” he added.
Otu said before now, it was a bit
difficult to come into the state because of poor road condition, but
“henceforth, you can freely fly into Calabar. I thank the management of Aero
Contractors, our partners in the business”, adding that they have agreed to
build a stronger partnership and to ensure it becomes a very viable business
for Cross River State.
The governor particularly
welcomed fun seekers around the world to come to Calabar and enjoy the carnival
and the entire 32 days Christmas festival starting from December 1.
The governor also assured
residents that the strategic partnership with Aero comes with opportunities for
everyone in terms of employments and business expansion.
The Managing Director of Aero
Contractor, Capt Abdul Sanusi, said the company has a similar partnership
agreement with the Rivers State Government and they are up to date in terms of
payment, saying: so with Cross River State, there is no need for fear of loss
or operations because Aero has the best record in Nigeria as the oldest airline
operator in the country.
“We are into partnership to help the state and
even help in developing a state-owned company. And our strategic partnership
will go beyond the festive season. We will continue to service the route and
build the traffic within the country and outside, into the neighbouring
countries,” he said.
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