At the recently concluded Akwaaba African Travel Market in Lagos, Prince Richard Nwaobi, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaikaair, announced the airline’s plans to commence operations in November.
Speaking on the airline’s strategic entry into the Nigerian market, Nwaobi emphasized the country’s strong potential due to its commercial vitality and high travel demand, with initial operations based out of Accra and plans for coordinated flights connecting Lagos, Abuja, and eastern regions in Nigeria.
Except:
Could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Prince Richard Nwaobi. I am the CEO and founder of Malaikaair.
Any plans to start operations in Nigeria soon?
Yes. We plan to start flying active operations in November. But coordinating from Accra, Lagos, Abuja, and we are working out a deal with an eastern regional airport that is not certified yet.
So you are currently operating from where?
We are based in Accra.
Why do you see the Nigeria market as a potential market for you to come in?
Well, Nigeria aside the size, is a viable market. Nigerians love to travel. Nigerians are commercially minded. That is also why we want to go to the east where a lot of commerce operates, that is one.
And two, in spite of the economic downturn, you still have more disposable income in Nigeria than anywhere else. And the interest in adventure is crucial. So it is a combination of tourism as well as trade facilitation, which the countries in the Caribbean statistics show about Nigeria.
In Bahamas, Nigerians are the third largest applicants for nomadic visas. I think you have people like the former owner of Flutterwave living there and others. In Bahamas, they just had the Afreximbank eventin June. 27 private jets out of 37 that arrived came from Nigeria. You had the who-is-who in attendance. In fact, for the 10 days, the Bahamian economy was overwhelmed by the presence mostly of Nigerians.
They could have actually benefited more if they took cash, but they operate a cashless society. So Bahamas now recognized that, wow, why are we pondering to anybody else? All we need is look to Africa, especially Nigeria. So the statistics are there.
The reality is that we are also partnering to bring back the other way, with the state government and the Nigerian tourism ministry. A festival called ‘Ipada’, which means return in Yoruba. And then Ipada Carnival, Osun Festival, December 28 through the end of December.
The aim for the Nigerian tourism ministry is to attract a million people in three months. Ghana has done 1.5 million and we feel that Nigeria could do that. And one of the challenges is availability. So we have been nominated as the official carriers in conjunction with Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Ekiti State and Ondo State. So the evidence is overwhelming. We look forward to it.
From what you have explained, it is not going to be a direct flight from Lagos?
Correct. Right now we are based in Accra. We are still working on permits to do non-stops from Lagos. But also recognize you have local carriers here.
We don’t want to come in with that imperial mentality. So it will be easier to partner with maybe Ibom Air. We will also fly twice daily to Lagos, daily to Abuja. And then once we get an eastern airport partner, we are interested in Asaba or Enugu. So, that we can cover the three sides of Nigeria, east, west. And start with that. Then eventually get permits to be able to fly from Lagos non-stop to those locations as well.
Do you have a partnership with Ibom Air already?
No, we are in talks with them. But we will fly our own jets to Lagos. I am just talking about strength in Nigeria.
See, the industry is such that if you really want to build it, you don’t come into the country and fly to all parts like the others are doing. You want to encourage domestic carriers. You have got 36 states, and if we are flying to three, let’s take Lagos, Abuja, well with Abuja it’s 37, right? And then say Asaba. It means if you need to go to Uyo or Port Harcourt, you need a partner. If you need to go to Kano, you need a partner. If you need to go to Kaduna, you need a partner. We are not here to dominate, we are here to build a hub, encourage Ibom Air or whoever else to help work with us, to bring passengers to our gateway. We also bring people who want to go to Guyana, for instance, they have oil. Port Harcourt would be a beneficiary of that. So put them on Ibom Air to Port Harcourt, right?
Let’s talk capacity. In terms of fleet size, fleet type and route coverage.
So for our domestic and near-regional, we are doing the Q400 NG, the latest one. In three classes, business, premium economy and economy. In terms of international fleet, we are doing the Airbus A330s. And at the full scale, we are going to have four of those and six. But we are starting about two and two.
So you are a Nigerian?
Yes, I am a Nigerian.
Why did you choose to operate from Ghana?
Well, we are a Pan-African operator. And I think, really, if you listen to the Akwaaba organizer, it is Nigerian brand, but Akwaba means welcome in Ghana.
I think we need to divorce ourselves from, I am a Nigerian, I am an Igbo and others. For Africa to get ahead, we need to harness our collective strengths. I am a Nigerian, I speak Igbo, Yoruba, I speak Swahili. I am also supporting Rwanda, I speak Kenya, Rwanda. Ultimately, the number one language in Africa is Swahili.
The African Union has adopted it. So if you say, I am Nigerian, I don’t want to. We are talking about 1.5 billion people. Nigeria might be 20%, but you still have 80%. In any business, you don’t want to leave out 80%, to only invest in 20%. So the Pan-African mindset, 1.5, then about 60 million in the Caribbean.
Brazil, Colombia combined, you are going to have probably 450 million. So it is going to be Africa, Caribbean, Latin America. Of course, the diaspora are also involved. So for us, it was just, I guess, the first start, you start small. You don’t dive into an ocean to learn how to swim. You do it from a swimming pool.
But let’s also recognize that the image is Pan-African. Not just, I am Nigerian, I am this. So that is the reason we decided to take baby steps from there, and then publish it.
