Nigeria Airways Had The Largest Airline Network In Africa As At July 1980 During Shagari’s Presidency And This Is What It Looked Like Then

 Nigeria Airways Had The Largest Airline Network In Africa As At July 1980 During Shagari’s Presidency And This Is What It Looked Like Then.

By July 1980, the fleet consisted of 26 aircraft, split into three Boeing 707-320Cs, two Boeing 727-200s, two Boeing 737-200s, two DC-10-30s, two F27-200s, two F27-400Ms, four F27-600s, six F28-2000s, two F28-4000s, and one Aztec. Nigeria Airways became Airbus’ 40th customer in 1981, when it placed an order for four Airbus A310-200s; these aircraft were incorporated into the fleet in late 1984 and early 1985. Also in 1981, four new Boeing 737-200s were ordered to replace leased aircraft of the same type in a deal worth US$65,000,000 ($168,614,568 in 2015); they were delivered in February 1983. In 1982, a Boeing 747 was leased from Scanair; the aircraft was deployed on services to the United Kingdom, permitting the DC-10s to be used on new routes to Frankfurt, Paris, and Zurich.

Nigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, was a Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation. It was wholly owned by the Government of Nigeria, and served as the country’s flag carrier until it ceased operations in 2003. The airline was managed by a number of foreign companies, including British Airways, KLM and South African Airways. It had its heyday in the early 1980s, just after a KLM team two-year-management period; at that time its fleet comprised about 30 aircraft. The airline’s operations were concentrated at Murtala Muhammed International Airport. Plagued by mis-management, corruption, and overstaffing, at the time of closure the airline had debts of more than US$60,000,000 (equivalent to $78,115,051 in 2016), a poor safety record, and its operative fleet comprised a single aircraft flying domestic routes as well as two leased aircraft operating the international network. It was succeeded by Virgin Nigeria. At the time of dissolution, the company’s headquarters were at Airways House, located in Abuja.-Wiki

 

Airlines in Nigeria generally have a short life span: in 35 years more than 40 operators have gone bust, including Nigeria Airways, which collapsed in 2003.