Italian flag carrier, Neos Airline, has announced its plan to commence direct flight operations from Italy to Lagos, Nigeria.
The airline through its handlers Sky Master, made this announcement on Friday at the launch of the airline’s direct flight to Nigeria in Ikeja, Lagos, with stakeholders in the industry, regulators and prospective clients.
Sky Master, an aviation service provider, noted that Neos airline will commence its scheduled operation directly to Nigeria on October 30, flying once weekly for the first month, while its frequency will increase to three times by the second month of its operations.
Sifax Sahco Travels will also operate as the airline’s official travel agent.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director of the Sky Master, Princewill Ogbonna, noted that the debut of the airline operation will further strengthen the relationship between Nigeria and Italy.
According to Ogbonna, the Neos airline is a private Italian airline, headquartered in Somma Lombardo, Lombardy.
It will commence the direct flight to Nigeria using a Boeing 787-8 for the first month.
Ogbonna added that the airline which currently operates in over 50 destinations of the world is willing to adjust its Nigeria operations to better suit groups and associations in accordance with their request and advice.
“For instance, the Christian Association of Nigeria will want to get to Rome and will not want to stop in Milan. We can arrange with our connecting flights to move them directly to Rome via Milan,” he said.
Ogbonna appreciated President Bola Tinubu for his aggressive push to ensure investments come into Nigeria without bottlenecks.
He said, “Firstly, I want to thank the present administration under President Bola Tinubu, he is a great inspiration. This is the second carrier that is commencing direct operations into Nigeria under his watch that is to tell you how focused his administration is in bringing direct investment into the country and we key into that. It is also important to congratulate the Minister of Aviation who is working tirelessly to ensure that Nigeria is opened up for foreign investment.
“Neos is currently flying between Milan and Dhaka and they are flying with a 787 and 60 per cent of the traffic going through there are Nigerians. That should tell you that Nigerians are making other people richer while we are treated poorly.
“That is the reason we are starting with a strategic way of flying so we don’t make mistakes. We have designed a strategy by starting with the Boeing 737, once a week, testing the waters and we would be able to encourage people on what we have come to do and by the second month we would increase to three flights a week.
“Skye master, we are the partner of Neos in Nigeria and we are also the general sales agent in the country.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, hailed the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development for making the achievement possible, emphasising that success in the aviation industry is a success for Nigeria.
The minister, represented by the Director of the European Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alex Kefas, described the launch of the airline’s direct trip to Nigeria as an “official re-launch of the Nigeria-Italy Airlinks.”
He said, “I would like to seize the opportunity and use this occasion to congratulate the SkyMaster partnership and other stakeholders for concretising our long-awaited dreams.
“These companies(Nigeria and Italy) are our Super Ambassadors in their own rights. Their efforts have made our work easier in the Aviation Sector. I believe very soon Nigerians and Italians will start flying to Milan and Lagos, and this hopefully includes other cities.
“I can’t conclude my speech without mentioning the contributions of the Ministries of Aviation and Aerospace Development and other Agencies in both Nigeria and Italy. And of course, the great roles played by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and the Italian Ambassador and Consul General in Lagos that worked tirelessly to ensure the Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding(MoU).”
Speaking earlier at the event, the Italian Consul General in Nigeria, Ugo Boni, expressed delight at the development, saying the direct flight to Nigeria from Italy is long overdue.
Boni also said he looks forward to when the airline would increase its frequency to three bearing in mind the relationship between Nigeria and Italy.
He added, “This is a welcome development and I am happy to be here. Nigeria, Italy’s relationship will be strengthened. This is long overdue and I hope that we increase the frequency from one to three every week very quickly.
“We are also doing our best to put the visa processing between two weeks, at least my business here is not to hinder Nigerians from travelling but to rather make it easier for them.”