Dana Airline set to acquire new planes

Dana Airline is to acquire new planes in third quarter of this year. This revelation was made by the Head of Corporate Communications of Dana Airline, Mr Tony Usidamen during the airline inaugural flight to Port-Harcourt from Lagos last Monday. The airline resumed flight operations to Port-Harcourt with its MD 83 plane.

Usidamen said the airline has almost concluded negotiations with the manufacturers of the planes and will start arriving for operations third quarter of this year. This new acquisition is necessitated by the increase in passengers patronage and opening of new routes by the airline.

It will be recalled that since resumption of flight operations after its suspension , following the crash of its plane in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, last June which killed more than 130 people on board, the airline has been flying only Lagos – Abuja route. The decision to reopen the Port-Harcourt route according to the airline is due to calls by its customers to reopen the route.

Speaking also about the resumption of flight to Port-Harcourt, Mr Usidamen said the persistent calls by customers of the airline to have Port-Harcourt route reopen immediately the airline resumed flight operations after the ban on it by the Federal government was lifted led the management to add the new route to the Abuja- Lagos route it has been plying.

According to him ‘’ before the incidence of June 3rd 2012, Dana had already established itself as one of the players on that Lagos-Port-Harcourt route. Since resuming flight to Abuja we have been receiving request from our frequent flyers to commence operations to Port-Harcourt. And we are very happy that we have started to offer them the same world class service we offered them before. As words get out that Dana has resumed Port-Harcourt route our customers on that route will definitely come back to fly us”

The MD 83 plane with more than 100 passengers on board and piloted by Captain Maxwell taxied and took off from Lagos at exactly 12.05pm. Among the passengers on board the flight were Journalists, and Business Executives. The South-South Regional Managers of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mrs Ebele Okoye was on hand to receive the flight crew on arrival in Port-Harcourt.

She expressed her delight on Dana Air resuming flights operations to Port-Harcourt. Speaking on Dana resuming flight operations after the fatal clash of June 3rd, 2012, Mrs Okoye said she is very pleased that the airline was able to surmount the problems and numerous challenges that resulted from the clash. She said ‘’ I am so excited. I had to walk down the rail to embrace them.