http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/business/article04
Capital Airline partners South American firm to operate Nigeria's marginal airports
SYNERGY Group, a South American firm, has entered into partnership with Capital Airline to open up some airports hitherto considered unviable.
Only the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port-Harcourt are said to be viable, while many others are considered alternate airports.
The group said it would render technical assistance to the airline as it plans to extend its operations to Makurdi, Ilorin, Jos and few other airports.
The Managing Director of Capital Airlines, Dr. Tony Eze, explained that the airline plans to operate into those airports out of accessed market demand to open up more airports for commercial operations, with an initial link of Makurdi and others with Abuja.
Eze explained that the airline will operate a state-of-the-art Embraer 120 aircraft to those routes, arguing that he did not consider them as unviable because of the 40-seater aircraft his company will deploy to the routes.
The group also plans to acquire Okada Airline's hangar at the Benin Airport, where all maintenance of the aircraft would be done.
President of Synergy Group, Mr. German Efremovich, said they were in the country to implement all the systems, manuals and to transfer all, "our experience and maintenance. The idea is to transfer all this know-how into Nigeria through Capital Airlines with experts from the International Air Transport Association (IATA)."
He added: "The idea of being here (Nigeria) is to transfer all these know-how and technology. We are to be as independent as we can in Nigeria, preparing inventory for maintenance, and also to train the Nigerian technicians in Brazil. Don't forget that the Embraer 120 is a Brazilian-made aircraft, so we are next door to the factory as well. So all of that are the advantages for the Nigerian passenger."
Eze refuted insinuations that the airline stopped operations into Benin, explaining that there was a restructuring, "and that was why we had that gap, but now we are fully back and we will continue to serve the people."
Synergy Group has vast business interest in shipping, oil and gas, aviation. It owns and operates Santo Air, Ocean Air and Abianca, reputed to be the oldest airline in the world with a fleet of about 60 aircraft operating into Madrid and few other places from North America.