Enugu Air, a commercial airline owned by the Enugu State government, began operations on Monday, 7 July 2025, with an inaugural flight from Lagos to Enugu. Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo formally inaugurated the carrier at Akanu Ibiam International Airport alongside Governor Peter Mbah, whose administration established the airline as part of a wider push to build out the state's transport infrastructure. The airline started with a fleet of three Embraer regional jets drawn from the E170 and E190 families, chosen for their efficiency on short-haul routes, and initially operated under the air operator's certificate of XEJet before later obtaining its own certification from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
State Carriers on the Rise
Enugu Air's launch reflected a broader pattern during 2025 of Nigerian state governments entering the airline business, following moves by Cross River State, which paired ownership of Cally Air with operational support from ValueJet, and Bayelsa State, which acquired ATR turboprops for an airline managed by Pioneer Airline. Keyamo used the inauguration to caution the Enugu State government against letting bureaucracy weigh the airline down, pointing to the collapse of the original Nigeria Airways decades earlier as a cautionary example, while indicating that regional routes into neighbouring African states could be approved quickly once the state applied.
The airline's initial network connected Enugu with Lagos and Abuja, with the state government describing plans to extend service to Port Harcourt, Owerri, Benin and Kano as part of a longer-term ambition to position Enugu as a regional aviation hub anchored by Akanu Ibiam International Airport.
