Air Peace takes delivery of Boeing 737-NG in landmark dry-lease deal,
By Dickson Omobola
Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, yesterday, took delivery of a Boeing 737-NG on dry lease from an Irish-American aviation leasing company, AerCap.
This was just as the Vice President Leasing, AerCap, Gad Wavomba, disclosed that it has been nearly a decade since a dry-lease transaction was completed in Nigeria.
A dry lease is an aircraft leasing agreement where the lessor provides only the aircraft, and the lessee is responsible for all other aspects of operation, including crew, insurance, maintenance and fuel.
Speaking at the aircraft’s arrival ceremony in Lagos, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, said the accomplishment was a combined effort from all the institutions of government.
Keyamo also urged leasing companies and financial institutions to collaborate in dry-leasing more wide-body aircraft to Nigerian operators, saying the country needs such aircraft to reciprocate its Bilateral Air Service Agreements, BASAs.
He said: “From the president, to the judiciary, to the vice president, to the National Assembly, all of the institutions of government, they bought into this mission. This is the right path to go in terms of our aviation sector. One, to reinstate the confidence of the world in our jurisdiction here, letting them know that we can be honest, we can be straightforward and we can be trustworthy.
“We thought that was a foundational issue to address. After that, it was to speak with givers of aircraft. We thought that for our population, our thirst and appetite for travelling in Nigeria, it is actually a shame for us not to have many aircraft to which we have access as a people and businessmen.
“We need more wide-body aircraft. We have bilateral service agreements with so many countries in the world. And all of those BASAs, we have reciprocal rights to apply those rules. As I speak to you, we are not taking advantage of those reciprocal rights.”
On his part, Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, expressed satisfaction with the current’s administration, saying they made this possible.
Onyema said: “Most of these big international airlines do not own all their aircraft. They simply place orders with Boeing or Airbus, and the lessors grant them access to the planes. That is why you see some airlines operating fleets of 400 to 800 aircraft. In Nigeria, airline owners are expected to buy their own planes outright. When we raised the issue of aircraft dry leasing with the minister, he took the necessary steps to make it possible. Today, we have a dry-leased aircraft.
“Air Peace is representing other Nigerian airlines, carrying the vision and aspirations of our nation. With the support that we have received from all arms of government and the Nigerian public, I believe we won’t fail our country.
“Like him or hate him, the minister has truly transformed the face of the aviation industry. Before he came on board, Nigerian airlines struggled for years. He identified the gaps and took action to fix them.
“In the past, the belief was that Nigerian airlines lacked capacity, so foreign airlines were invited to dominate our market. But this minister took a different approach, he focused on developing Nigerian carriers so they could compete. The President also gave the marching order to make that vision a reality.”
Meanwhile, Sales Director, Africa Region, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Moore Ibekwe Jr., said: “A lot of people might not know what it took to get here, having an aircraft through a dry lease in Nigeria, but I can tell you that the journey started in the Minister’s office. In this case, the minister saw the importance of having a vibrant aviation sector, and he was willing to partner with us, Boeing, and also the leasing company to make sure that Nigeria has a chance to take its rightful place in commercial aviation in Africa.”
The post Air Peace takes delivery of Boeing 737-NG in landmark dry-lease deal appeared first on Vanguard News.
,
Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, yesterday, took delivery of a Boeing 737-NG on dry lease from an Irish-American aviation leasing company, AerCap
The post Air Peace takes delivery of Boeing 737-NG in landmark dry-lease deal appeared first on Vanguard News.
, , Nwafor, {authorlink},, , Vanguard News, November 8, 2025, 12:46 am
