Ibom Air (QI, Uyo) has announced it will terminate the "place-holding" wet leases of two A320-200s as it is about to induct its first in-house A220-300 into revenue service.
"We resorted to wet leasing aircraft to meet the growing demand for our product, while we worked on our fleet growth program. Now with [the A220] aircraft being delivered, it is time for us to benefit from the significant operating efficiencies and enhanced service the A220-300 brings to the business," Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer George Uriesi said.
The carrier's first A220-300, 5N-CDA (msn 55250), was delivered to Uyo in early November 2023, but has yet to be deployed into revenue operations. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows it has not flown since the delivery flight. Ibom Air has a further nine A220-300s on firm order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac), with one due for delivery very shortly. The carrier did not respond to ch-aviation's query on the other A220s' delivery dates.
In the interim phase, the airline was wet-leasing one A320-200 from Airhub Airlines (RE, Malta International) and one from GetJet Airlines Latvia (GJ, Riga). Both have been parked at Lagos airport since February 5, 2024.
The airline conceded that the termination of the wet leases would "result in a reduced flight schedule for a few weeks as the first two A220s are phased into service".
Ibom Air also operates five CRJ900s, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
