Kinfe Kahssaye, Chief Executive Officer, Air Nigeria

Air Nigeria over the weekend clinched the “Airline of the Year 2010” at the Nigeria Aviation Awards (NIGAV), organised by FCI International Limited. The awards seek to recognise companies, organisations and individuals for best practices and outstanding contributions towards developing the aviation industry and related activities.

The award is coming at an auspicious time, following the successful implementation of turn around and growth plans initiated after the acquisition of the airline by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim. Air Nigeria within this period has and is continuing to review and introduce special bouquet of incentives to encourage air travels within and outside Nigeria especially on its route network and beyond, using its codeshare and interline partners.

While receiving the award at the presentation ceremony in Lagos, the MD/ CEO of Air Nigeria, Mr. Kinfe Kahssaye, dedicated the “Airline of the Year” award to air passengers for their confidence and trust in the services of Air Nigeria. He also thanked the organisers of the event for their painstaking efforts in collating passengers’ feedbacks as well as employing methods that are verifiable in selecting the eventual winners.

“Today we celebrate the confidence and trust of our passengers as their modest comments and recommendations about our services have continued to spur us to constantly introduce innovative service offerings, and it is our commitment to continuously meet and exceed their expectations”, said Mr. Kahssaye.

He noted further that the recognition of excellence through the winning of the prestigious award is a testament that Air Nigeria is on the right path in raising the bar of performance in the Nigerian and African aviation industry and it is the collective pledge of both management and staff of the airline not to rest on their oars.

It will be noted that Air Nigeria had in the past received several awards amongst which is the recent “Best Security Conscious airline in West Africa and Central Africa” by Security Watch Africa as part of activities that marked the 2010 edition of security excellence and patriotism in Africa.

Air Nigeria is one of the fastest growing airlines in West Africa. From its operational base at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, Air Nigeria currently operates to Benin City, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Sokoto and Enugu on the domestic routes while it also operates to Brazzaville, Accra, Douala, Dakar, Monrovia, Cotonou, Banjul, Libreville and Abidjan with further plans to extend services to more African destinations, Europe, Asia and America.