The Ebonyi State Government has announced plans to introduce four aircraft, each with a capacity of over fifty passengers, following the completion of the runway at Chuba Okadigbo International Airport.

This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Aviation and Transport Technology, Dr. Ngozi Obichukwu, during an inspection of the project on Sunday.

Dr. Obichukwu stated that the 3.1-meter runway has been completed and is currently being marked, with the state government awaiting its commissioning by President Bola Tinubu. She emphasized the government’s prioritization of the project and confirmed that the runway is large enough to accommodate three flights simultaneously.

When asked about the state’s approach to managing the prospective flights, Dr. Obichukwu clarified, “We may go beyond Ibom Air; they started with leasing. We may not go into leasing. We want to have our own and may not go into CRJ. We want to have something bigger than CRJ, as CRJ may have about 30–40 people but we are going to have something bigger than CRJ that will accommodate about 60 passengers.”

She further explained that the airport would serve both passenger and cargo flights. “This airport is for both humans and cargo. When I was in Addis Ababa, I saw the real cargo department, where they have all the warehouses: cassava, palm oil, yam, garri, and all sorts. We’ll have it here to export our agricultural produce,” she added.