Akwa Ibom State owned Ibom Air, has maintained that it has not stopped flights to Calabar, contrary to repeated speculations being made that, as an underhand business strategy, it stopped flights into Calabar to help shore up traffic for the composite Christmas festival in Akwa Ibom State.
In a memo dated 22nd November, 2023, signed by Aniekan Essienette, General Manager, Marketing and Communication, Ibom Air, a copy made available to www.calitown.com, the airline states that her “attention has been drawn to the misinformation in the public space alleging that Ibom Air has stopped flying to Calabar. We would like to emphatically clarify that this is not true.”
“The fact is that, as a result of the sudden unserviceability of one of our aircraft, we had to reduce some of our scheduled operations, including the Abuja-Calabar route. It is crucial to note that our Lagos to Calabar flights have continued to operate daily.”
“We have duly communicated this situation to the affected passengers and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. We are also working to bring the unserviceable aircraft back to serviceability. Once restored to operational status, the Abuja-Calabar route will resume. We anticipate the completion of these repairs within a few days.”
Essienette further informed that, “Ibom Air sincerely apologizes to the affected passengers for any inconvenience caused. We want to reassure our valued Calabar customers that we remain fully committed to providing uninterrupted services to Calabar and will continue to do so in the future.”