By Adekunle Williams & Solomon Asowata
Lagos – Medview Airline, one of Nigeria’s fastest growing flag carriers, will be listed by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Jan. 31, a senior official said on Sunday in Lagos.
Medview’s Executive Director, Business Development, Mr Isiaq Na-Allah,said the listing would enable the airline to expand its route network and acquire more aircraft to boost its operations.
According to him, Medview is the first airline to list its shares on the local bourse in the last decade.
Harping on the advantages, Na-Allah said the growth projection and market forecast informed the airline’s decision to be listed on the NSE to give members of the public the opportunity to be part of the airline through share holding.
He named Kedari Capital Ltd and Trustyields Securities Ltd as the financial advisers/issuing house and stockbrokers to Medview Airline in respect of the listing.
“Medview Airline (christened “The Airline of Nigeria”), started from a humble beginning 12 years ago as a cargo, tour and charter operator.
“Not contented with tickets and destination sales, the airline ventured into Hajj operations.
“The airline’s forays into pilgrims airlift has revolutionised pilgrims handling and airlift in Nigeria and in the West African sub-region.
“Today Medview is the benchmark and the airline of choice when it comes to Hajj operations in Nigeria.
“It is ranked number one by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria for hitch-free Hajj operations,” Na-Allah said in a statement, copy of which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Buoyed by the success of Medview Travel and Tours, Hajj operations, charter flights, he said the airline upped the ante and went into scheduled operations in 2012, starting with domestic routes.
According to him, just within four years, the airline has become a household name in the aviation industry.
“Within this short period, the airline has eight destinations – Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Yola, Enugu,Owerri and Maiduguri on its domestic network, and had flown over two million passengers.
“To its credit, Medview Airline has recorded a steady growth of 20 per cent in turnover. This gave it the confidence to go international, and now operates flights to London, Jeddah, Accra, Monrovia and Freetown.
“The airline has secured all necessary approvals to link all the countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the next few months,” Na-Allah said.
He said also on the front burner was expansion on the international routes to United States via Baltimore, United Arab Emirates via Dubai with connections to Europe and the Far East through a code share airline partner.
Na-Allah said in recognition that aviation was global, the airline was in partnership with notable brands including Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Hahn Air, Air Atlanta, Saudia Cargo, Ethiopian Airlines, Euro Atlantics and Amadeus.
He said: “the airline holds the necessary certification as a full-fledged carrier including Air Transport Licence (ATL), Air Operators Certificate (AOC), Air Carrier Permit (ACP) and the International Organisation Safety Assessment (IOSA) issued by the International Airlines Transport Association (IATA).”
According to him, the airline currently boasts of over two million passengers on its domestic routes and over 200,000 passengers on its international routes.
He said Medview Airline had conveyed 300,000 pilgrims to perform Hajj since 2007, while it had also carried 46 million tonnes of cargo annually since 2009.
