Allied Air Procures N8billion B737-800. By Daisy BARRO

 

It was amid the traditional water canon salute at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja that Allied Air, one of Nigeria’s foremost cargo airlines recently received its newly acquired N8billion B737-800 SF.

Among those who received the aircraft were senior government officials and financiers such as the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefelie; the Managing Director (MD) of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe; the MD of Allied Air, Capt. Val Thongo.

In his address, Hadi Sirika thanked the CBN and Access Bank for their unique roles in the procurement of the said aircraft, and divulged that the federal government is presently devising policies to ease the aircraft acquisition process in the future.

Throwing more light on how the B737-800 was procured, Emefelie first began by thanking Hadi Sirika for his persistent contribution to the improvement of the aviation industry in Nigeria, before revealing that, “This aircraft has been funded through the Intervention Fund of the CBN.”

According to Capt. Val Thongo, the recently acquired aircraft is the youngest 737-800 to be converted into a freighter, and it will be used in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines when these are made available.

On his part, Wigwe expressed his joy in the fact that Access Bank had successfully collaborated with the CBN, the Ministry of Aviation and Allied Air to achieve such a venture.

It should be noted that among other services, Allied Air offers cargo services to CBN, and has been distributing cargo for DHL for over the last ten years.