…As Airline Boss Laments Exchange Rate Of Naira To $
Med-View Airline has taken delivery of its Boeing 737-500 aircraft after undergoing a comprehensive check in Estonia.
The arrival of the aircraft brings the number of airplanes on the airline’s fleet to six while the new aircraft was immediately deployed for its Accra operations on Sunday.
The Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer of Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole received the aircraft on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal two (MMA2), Lagos alongside other top management staff of the airline.
The Managing Director, who spoke on why the aircraft’s interior was branded in First Bank logo, explained that it was done to appreciate the bank for being its reliable partner over the years.
He stated that two more aircraft were also expected in the next one month to enable the airline open up the West Coast, start its Dubai operation and provide back-up for its London-Gatwick operation, among others.
Muneer decried the difficulty in accessing foreign exchange by indigenous airlines, adding that he bought dollar at N370 per dollar to bring back the aircraft.
He commended the efforts made by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika to address the challenges confronting the local carriers, urging him to impress it on President Mohammadu Buhari to realise that the local airlines are a driving force for the economy.
According to him, “We changed dollars at 370, that is very sad. It is very painful. We had to source for it from different local areas, both foreign partners and friends and that is the game.”
The Medview boss said the new aircraft had been immediately deployed to Accra, adding, “We are opening up the West Coast and you should know the London route is doing very well.”
In his words, “Throughout July and August, we have no seat available. I have been talking with my colleagues to deploy a 747 late June –July to bring Nigerians home for the summer. Jeddah is doing very well. We are on already for the special Umrah operations. We are doing a heavy one with three flights now. We are doing charter for the fourth one. We have a charter for Sokoto, in Gombe, we are doing charter”.
