Nigeria’s Ibom Air is preparing to take delivery of another Airbus A220-300, expanding its current fleet of the modern narrow-body aircraft to three as the state-owned airline moves ahead with a longer-term plan to increase capacity at home and deepen its presence in West and Central Africa.
The incoming aircraft is particularly significant because it will be the second A220-300 delivered from the airline’s firm order for 10 aircraft placed directly with Airbus at the Dubai Airshow in November 2021.
Ibom Air received the first aircraft from that order at Airbus’ Mirabel facility in Canada in November 2023. It subsequently acquired another A220-300 from global aircraft lessor Carlyle Aviation in July 2024 after passenger demand grew faster than the delivery schedule for its new Airbus aircraft.
That interim acquisition gave the airline additional capacity while it waited for Airbus to deliver the remaining aircraft in its order book. Ibom Air’s relationship with the A220, however, goes back further. Before committing billions of naira to purchasing its own fleet, the airline tested the aircraft in commercial service by wet-leasing two A220s from EgyptAir in 2021. It said the trial allowed it to assess the aircraft against the demands of Nigeria’s domestic market before making a long-term fleet decision.
Within six months, Ibom Air concluded that the aircraft was suitable for its expansion strategy and placed the firm order for 10 A220s. The decision was important for a relatively young airline. Ibom Air only commenced commercial operations in June 2019 and is wholly owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government, making it an unusual example of a Nigerian subnational government establishing and operating a scheduled commercial airline.
Its fleet was initially built around the smaller Bombardier CRJ900, an aircraft suited to developing domestic routes without carrying the capacity risk associated with larger narrow-body jets. As passenger numbers increased, however, the airline began moving towards higher-capacity aircraft. It temporarily brought in Airbus A320s and A220s under leasing arrangements while preparing for the permanent transition represented by its 2021 Airbus order.
The A220-300 can typically accommodate between 120 and 150 passengers depending on configuration and has a range of up to approximately 6,700 kilometres, giving Ibom Air considerably greater flexibility than its regional jets. Airbus says the aircraft consumes around 25 per cent less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft in the same category. Those economics are particularly relevant in Nigeria, where airlines have faced high aviation fuel prices, foreign-exchange shortages and expensive aircraft maintenance.
A larger A220 fleet could allow Ibom Air to deploy more seats on high-demand domestic services while using the same aircraft for regional routes without moving immediately to significantly larger jets. Regional expansion has been part of the airline’s strategy since the A220 order was announced.
Ibom Air launched its first international service between Lagos and Accra, Ghana, in October 2023, marking its first move outside Nigeria. When it ordered the 10 aircraft, the airline specifically identified West and Central Africa as immediate areas for future expansion. Airbus similarly said the A220 would give Ibom Air the flexibility required to develop domestic, regional and eventually wider African connectivity.
The airline has continued expanding its wider fleet while waiting for the Airbus delivery programme. In 2024, it purchased two additional CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, taking its fleet at the time to nine aircraft comprising seven CRJ900s and two A220-300s. Ibom Air said those aircraft were acquired to strengthen capacity and reliability while it awaited the remaining A220s.
The arrival of another factory-ordered A220 therefore represents more than an additional aircraft. It moves Ibom Air another step towards the fleet structure envisioned when it made one of the most significant aircraft commitments by a Nigerian domestic carrier in recent years.
Nigeria has Africa’s largest population and one of the continent’s biggest domestic aviation markets, but its airline industry has historically struggled with thin margins, high operating costs and carriers disappearing almost as quickly as new ones emerge. Building a fleet around newly manufactured aircraft is consequently an expensive strategy, but one that could give Ibom Air advantages in fuel efficiency, reliability and route flexibility.
For the Akwa Ibom-owned carrier, the next A220 will also begin reducing its dependence on temporary capacity solutions. Each aircraft arriving from the original Airbus order brings the airline closer to operating the fleet it deliberately selected after testing the A220 in Nigerian conditions.
What started in 2021 as an experiment with two leased aircraft is steadily becoming the backbone of Ibom Air’s growth strategy. The remaining deliveries will determine how quickly that strategy translates into more frequencies within Nigeria and a larger Ibom Air network across West and Central Africa.