Green Africa Airways Ltd is a Nigerian

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

, based in

Lagos, Nigeria Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. The airline was founded in 2015 and commenced flights on 12 August 2021.

History

Green Africa Airways was founded on 15 June 2015 by Babawande Afolabi, who serves as the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. It was a new

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

targeting the Nigerian air travel market. Operations were originally planned to start in 2019, but have since been delayed. In mid-2018, the airline received the necessary operating licenses from the

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is the civil aviation authority of Nigeria. the Director General of NCAA is Captain Muhktar Usman. The current Director General is Capt. Musa Shuaibu Nuhu. Offices Its head office (Corporate Headquart ...

. Green Africa's Board of directors consists of industry veterans including

Tom Horton Dr. Thomas Horton is a fictional character and patriarch of the Horton family on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. He was played by Macdonald Carey from 1965 until his death in 1994. Storylines Tom Horton was born in 1910, married his w ...

, former

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and CEO of

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

; Virasb Vahidi, former CCO of American Airlines; Wale Adeosun, founder and CEO of Kuramo Capital; and Gbenga Oyebode, founder and Chairman of Aluko & Oyebode. In late 2018, Green Africa announced a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...

for 50 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, with an option for a further 50 aircraft. It was the largest order intention

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

had ever received from an African airline. The order was valued $11.7 billion, according to list prices. However, this letter of intent was withdrawn in February 2020, and the airline instead opted to sign a memorandum of understanding for 50 Airbus A220-300s, which - if actually placed - would also be the largest order

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

has ever received from an African carrier. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2021. In order to bridge the gap between the first delivery, Green Africa has agreed to lease three A220-300s from GTLK Europe, so that operations would start in 2020, but these were also not delivered. In August 2020, Green Africa announced ex-Chief Financial Officer of SpiceJet - Kiran Koteshwar as the new Group Chief Financial officer starting from September 2020. On 12 August 2021 the airline commenced operations with the first flight touching down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria.ch-aviation.com - Green Africa Airlines
13 February 2021

Legal issues

In August 2021, Kenny Wole Awosika, his cofounder filed suit against Green Africa Airways and Babawande Afolabi for $30 million, alleging that they both founded the airline and was not provided with the agreed upon stake in the business. Mr. Awosika, had no choice to take on the civil action after 2 years of failed mediation and no progress with The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The matter remains in court.

Destinations

Green Africa Airways intends to initially serve the Nigerian

domestic market A domestic market, also referred to as an internal market or domestic trading, is the supply and demand of goods, services, and securities within a single country. In domestic trading, a firm faces only one set of competitive, economic, and market ...

with plans to further expand service across the African continent.

Fleet

As of April 2021, the Green Africa Airways fleet was planned to consist of the following aircraft : In April 2021, the airline took delivery of its first two ATR72-600 aircraft in order to commence certification flights with Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Africa Airways Airlines of Nigeria Companies based in Lagos Airlines established in 2015 Low-cost carriers Transport in Lagos

History

Legal issues

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References