Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has disclosed that about 240 private jets are currently operating in Nigeria, the highest number on the continent.
Keyamo disclosed this during his engagement with the world’s leading aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).
The Minister led some major operators of private jets in Nigeria to Montreal, Canada to engage with officials of Bombardier Inc., a leading Canadian aerospace company specializing in the design, manufacture, and servicing of luxury business jets (such as the Global and Challenger families) and defense aircraft solutions.
According to the minister, discussions with Bombardier focused on the possibility of establishing a major aircraft service centre in Nigeria to provide maintenance support for Bombardier aircraft operating in the country and across Africa.
He wrote: “Our discussions covered a broad range of issues, especially the prospect of the company establishing a major service center in Nigeria. This will provide the much needed support for their aircraft within the country and the African continent as a whole.
“Nigeria officially has the highest number of private jets in Africa with nearly 240 presently operating within the country and so much foreign currency is repatriated weekly from the country for the maintenance of these aircraft.”
Akelicious reports that the number of private jets in Nigeria has seen a drastic rise since 2021 when it was just 100 despite the economic whirlwind.
However, most of the private jets, close to 70 per cent of them, were foreign registered while most of them were used for illegal charter operations which necessitated the recent set up of committee to probe the development.
The Ministerial Taskforce on illegal Air Charter operation set up by Keyamo recently fingered high net worth individuals and foreign registered aircraft as culprits in illegal charter operations.
Recently, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was at loggerheads with the operators over payment of the required duties and levies on importation of the private jets.
