We want to expand our partnership with Nigeria-Bombardier president written by Sade Williams(Businessday)

Interest in Nigeria

We have a lot of partners in Nigeria, first of all, private aeroplane operators, but most importantly Arik Air;

we are beginning to find out that it is an extraordinary airline and I promised Mr. Joseph Arumemi–Ikhide,

chairman, Arik Air that  we shall visit and that is what I’m doing today.

Developing commercial aircraft for the Nigerian market

Arik Air operates CRJ 900 and Q400 and this is a relationship we would continue to expand because this is

a perfect aircraft to develop a regional airline which is being done very well today but with a limited amount

of airplanes, so we want to expand that in our relationship.

Maintenance facility

I visited the maintenance facility of Arik Air and I think it was very impressive; there should be more to be

done in the sense that they cannot rely on us to do everything but they are doing things in a very professional

way, world standard; and they are going to continue to do that. I am very excited because it is being done

step by step.

Attracting Nigerian operators to Bombardier

With the feedback I get from our customer, Arik Air, people love CRJ 900. It is a very quiet airplane, very

comfortable; it flies very smoothly through turbulence. The feedback I get both for CRJ 900 and Q400 is

very appreciated by the customers. I think we are on the way; of course others may have brand recognition

but with time as we are adding airplanes in this country and most importantly, we are making regional connections, I think people will love the fact that they are making a very short flight and get to their

destination without having to connect to other flights.

We started a partnership at the very beginning with Arik Air and we were involved with the CRJ 900; then

we brought the Q400 with a vision to provide safe flying with Nigerian connecting the regions, and that is

what Arik is doing very well. We are very proud to be their partner and we want to do more in the future.

African travel market and Bombadier equipment

I think it is a very interesting market for us because of what I see in Nigeria where Arik Air is in the front of

the market, developing the regional network, but I see that in Africa in general, there is not enough

connection and Bombardier is world leader in regional airplanes, so for me, I am very excited because I can provide the tool that people in Africa are looking for to connect key cities together and avoid the long, long flights to go to very short distances. I am very impressed with Arik Air, with what they have done; the quality they put into the work and quality on safety and everything else they do. So this is a partner for Bombardier that is very important and that’s why we want to expand it.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/aviation/52679-we-want-to-expand-our-partnership-with-nigeria-bombardier-president