L-R Embraer representive;Prof.Obiora Okonkwo;Dr.Fatokun;Osita Okonkwo and Embraer reprentative during the presentation of the certificate.

The International Air Transport Association(IATA) has formally presented the certificate of membership to the United Nigeria Airlines that has just been granted its membership.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony,IATA Regional Director Dr.Samson Fatokun praised tha airline for attaining such a feat within a short time of coming into existence.

He said he could not recall any airline within the continent that  has recorded such accelerated development within the same time frame as United Nigeria Airlines.

According to Fatokun,IATA will do everything to support United Nigeria Airlines saying that to sustain the attained standards, it has to do more work.

He appealed to the Federal Government to come to the aid of the aviation industry because of the dollar based nature of the sector.

Fatokun acknowledged the fact that other sectors are also contending for government attention, noted that aviation needs more.

In his remarks,Chairman of the Airline,Professor Obiora Okonkwo,attributed the success of the airline so far to the management team led by the Chief Executive Officer Osita Okonkwo.

Going down memory lane,the Chairman disclosed that less than twelve hours when the Airline obtained its Air Operator Certificate(AOC) it conducted its maiden flight.

He commended the resilience spirit of commercial airline owners that have remained in  the business ininspite  of the excruciating operating environment.”The roads are not the best,the only reliable way now is aviation.”

On the regulatory agency’s plan to raise the number of aircraft an operator should have to a minimum of six,explained that successful operation is not synonymous with many aircraft,rather it is sound business plan.

He said the bane of the sector is that some airports do not have the right facilities for a hitch free operations such as check-in counters.This he said should be accorded priority attention and less emphasis on the number of aircraft an operator should have.

In his words”when you go to other parts of the world,there are people that have two or three helicopters serving one airport to another.They want to remain there.They are not forced to grow.”