Yemisi Izuora
Medview Airline is to be “Listed by Introduction” on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday. January 31, 2017.
This will make it the first airline to list its shares on the local bourse in the last decade.
In a telephone interview with Oriental News Nigeria, Managing Director of the Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole, said that, despite the recession and the situation in the country, the airline thought it right to boost its operations by going to the market to give members of the public the opportunity to be part of the airline through shareholding and that the growth projection and market forecast informed the airline’s decision to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Bankole said that this Listing will enable it to expand its routes network and acquire more aircraft to boost operations and serve the Nigerian people as the true airline of Nigeria.
The airline which commenced operations 12 years ago as a cargo, tour and charter operator decided it was not contented with tickets and destination sales, and so ventured into Hajj operations.
Med-view Airline’s forays into pilgrims airlift aided in revolutionizing pilgrims handling and airlift in Nigeria and the West African sub-region. Today, Med-view 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 (NAHCON) for hitch-free Hajj operations.
In 2012, motivated by the success of Med-view Travel and Tours, Hajj operations, charter flights, the airline upped the ante by assembling a team of hard-core and tested professionals and went into scheduled operations starting with domestic routes.
Med-view within 4 years, has become a household name in the aviation industry flying to eight destinations including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Yola, Enugu, Owerri, and Maiduguri on its domestic network, and had flown over 2 Million passengers.
Med-view, as per statistics gathered, has flown over 2 million domestic passengers and over 200, 000 passengers on the international routes; the airline has also done over 300, 000 passengers on Hajj operations since 2007 and has airlifted 46 million tons of cargo annually since 2009.
To its credit, Med-view 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.
Also on the front burner is an expansion on the international routes to the United States via Baltimore, United Arab Emirates via Dubai with connections to Europe and the Far East through a code share airline partner.
In recognition that aviation is global, the airline is in partnership with notable brands including Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Hahn Air, Air Atlanta, Saudia Cargo, Ethiopian Airlines, Euro Atlantics, Amadeus, etc.
The Airline holds the necessary certification as a full-fledged carrier including Air Transport License (ATL), Air Operators Certificate (AOC), Air Carrier Permit (ACP) and the International Organization Safety Assessment (IOSA) issued by the International Airlines Transport Association (IATA).