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 gasoline tank farm facility at the airport.
Okonkwo stated the airline would activate a cargo part of its operations by January, enabling companies in Ekiti to transport items to different components of Nigeria and worldwide locations.
He assured Governor Abiodun Oyebanji that the airline can be prepared to raise 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 stated.
Okonkwo additionally stated the airline would quickly introduce each day flights to and from Ekiti, expressing confidence that improved aviation providers would assist enterprise and financial actions within the state.
He described United Nigeria Airlines because the nation’s second-largest shopper of aviation gasoline after Air Peace, noting that the brand new tank farm would assist its operations via a extra dependable gasoline provide.
On the airline’s partnership with the state authorities, Okonkwo stated the corporate neither lobbied for the association nor paid a bribe to safe it.
According to him, the federal government carried out 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 in periods 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 assist for the airport and personal traders, saying ongoing infrastructure upgrades have been anticipated to allow round the clock operations by the top of 2026.

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