Privately-owned Nigerian carrier ValueJet (VK, Lagos) is to induct its first CRJ700 on an open-ended lease from Regional One, an airline spokesman confirmed to ch-aviation. He said the dual-cabin aircraft was en route to Lagos on May 22 from Ljubljana, Slovenia.
According to ch-aviation fleets data, the 65-seater, 20.43-year-old CRJ700 Srs 701 msn 10130 will be reregistered in Nigeria as 5N-CCK. It was previously flown by ExpressJet Airlines under the registration N617QX. According to ADS-D data, it had been parked in Slovenia since November 2023.
ValueJet already operates two company-owned CRJ900s and one CRJ900LR, ch-aviation fleets data shows. Meanwhile, one CRJ200ER(SF) freighter and one CRJ700 Srs 701ER, both leased from Regional ONE, are currently parked in Lagos.
Founded in 2018, ValueJet commenced commercial operations on October 10, 2022. It provides domestic scheduled passenger services between Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt City, Yola, Benin City, Asaba, Kano, and Jos and also offers charter services.
The company is owned by Nigerian billionaire entrepreneur and politician Kunle Soname, who founded Bet9ja, a sports betting website, and in 2015 became the first Nigerian to acquire a European football club, buying a 70% stake in Portuguese club C.D. Feirense.
