United Nigeria Airlines to begin cargo flights at Ekiti airport – Daily Trust

United Nigeria Airlines plans to begin cargo operations at Ekiti Airport in January 2027, with each day passenger flights to the state additionally anticipated to begin quickly.
The airline’s Executive Chairman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, disclosed this on Monday at the commissioning of the Reeve Energy Limited aviation gas tank farm facility at the airport.
Okonkwo mentioned the airline would activate a cargo part of its operations by January, enabling companies in Ekiti to transport items to different elements of Nigeria and worldwide locations.
He assured Governor Abiodun Oyebanji that the airline could be prepared to elevate business cargo as quickly because the state commenced preparations for exports.
“By January, we will activate a cargo section of our flights, so that we can work out a deal. As soon as you are ready to start exporting cargo from here, whether it is to other parts of Nigeria or London, we will be ready,” he mentioned.
Okonkwo additionally mentioned the airline would quickly introduce each day flights to and from Ekiti, expressing confidence that improved aviation companies would help enterprise and financial actions within the state.
He described United Nigeria Airlines because the nation’s second-largest client of aviation gas after Air Peace, noting that the brand new tank farm would help its operations via a extra dependable gas provide.
On the airline’s partnership with the state authorities, Okonkwo mentioned the corporate neither lobbied for the association nor paid a bribe to safe it.
According to him, the federal government performed due diligence and approached the airline after assessing its fleet and operational capability.
He added that the airline had accommodated lowered passenger numbers on some flights during times of low demand, carrying 40 passengers as a substitute of fifty as a part of its dedication to the partnership.

Meanwhile, Oyebanji pledged continued authorities help for the airport and personal buyers, saying ongoing infrastructure upgrades had been anticipated to allow round the clock operations by the top of 2026.

The governor mentioned the state was finishing an improve of the airport’s Instrument Landing System (ILS), which he mentioned had been licensed, alongside an aerodrome floor lighting undertaking costing greater than N10 billion.