By Grace Akpan in Uyo
Akwa Ibom State Government has approved and disbursed palliatives to the State owned airline - Ibomair, to cushion the financial disposition of the airline occasioned by the three months lockdown on flights due to the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
The State Commissioner for Information, Sir Charles Udoh who made this known in Uyo said, the financial assistance to the airline became necessary as airline operations in Nigeria were grounded for over three months, resulting in a revenue loss by Ibomair in the region of N4BN.
Sir Charles Udoh reiterated that the action of Akwa Ibom State Government is in line with the global trend of governments providing enabling environment for the re-commencement of air travels with Ibomair as an integral part.
The State Information helmsman who was speaking to the crew of Update Akwa Ibom Radio Programme, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected global aviation industry, resulting in many airlines requiring a financial life-line to get back to business adding that the palliative is to enable the airline make necessary preparations for the resumption of fight operations as soon as the Nigerian airspace is opened.
Justifying the action of the state government, the Information Boss, pointed to the American Airline which secured $5.8 billion support, Delta Airline, $5.4 billion and Air France-KLM $12billion from their respective governments.
Recall that Ibom Air in a little over one year of operations has raised the bar in aviation travel experience in Nigeria with its one time; every time departure protocol. Ibom Air continues to operate the lowest average fleet age amongst Nigeria’s airlines, a fleet strategy which is in line with the company’s vision to be a world-class African regional airline.
A key benefit of Ibom Air’s very modern fleet of Bombardier CRJ 900 aircrafts is that they all come fitted with High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. HEPA filters are high-intensity filters that do not just filter dust, but effectively capture greater than 99% of the airborne microbes in the filtered air, including microscopic particles such as bacteria and viruses.
Cabin air in HEPA equipped aircraft generally pass through the filters 20-30 times per hour, removing contaminants and greatly enhancing the quality of air in the cabin.
Therefore, when the suspension on domestic flight is lifted, Ibom Air will offer one of the safest, if not safest domestic travel option during COVID19 pandemic in addition to other personal and respiratory hygiene guidelines already prescribed globally.
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