Recently updated on February 10th, 2022 at 01:29 pm
Ibom Air has been ranked as the best airline in Nigeria by Travellers Awards for the year 2021.
Organisers of the award said this is based on the ranking of Nigerian airlines using the following parameters: average age of aircraft, schedule integrity, spread of services, customer care, inflight services and total number of flights done in 2021.
Air Peace wins the award of the Best Nigerian International Airline of the year.
This year’s Travellers Award chose to highlight the expectations of travellers in Nigeria. The Organisers listened to the complaints and yearnings of travellers by incorporating these in the selection of the 2022 winners. Delays and cancellations are big issues on the domestic scene, Customer Care and Schedule Integrity ranked high on most social media feedback reports.
With about 65 to 70 aircraft by 10 airlines carried over 12 million passengers to over 20 active airports in Nigeria, Ibom Air came out tops with the lowest score of 12 having topped the chart in four of the parameters. It only did badly in the spread as it flies to only six destinations, so it ranked eight out of the 10 airlines that were profiled. It also had the second highest number of flights done despite having only seven aircraft and was flying to only six destinations. It had done more flights than airlines that had more planes and flew to more destinations. This was a very remarkable operation similar to popular low cost carrier models optimizing the use of aircraft.
Ibom Air beat four other Nigerian airlines; Air Peace, Green Africa, Arik Air and Dana Air; to the coveted award.
Air Peace came in second with a score of 17. It came 1st in National Spread and had more flights than any other airline in Nigeria. It is the big international player in the market. Despite its huge size it still scored very high in average age and customer care. It did well on all parameters, which shows its potential as an emerging global player. It came 4th in Average Fleet age, 4th in on time Performance, 3rd in Inflight Services and 5th in Customer Care.
Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, was chosen as the Travel Personality of the Year 2021 due to his consistent performance in the Aviation Business. His airline is the first airline to bring a brand new commercial passenger plane to Nigeria since Arik Air and Virgin Nigeria over 10 years ago.
Director General of NIHOTOUR, Turaki Nura Kangiwa emerged The Tourism CEO of the Year 2021 due to capacity development and trainings in the industry.
President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) Nkereuwem Onung was named The Tourism Man of the Year. His election as the FTAN President was a unifying tonic needed by the Tourism Community riven by dichotomy and in fighting. He has since set out inaugurating zonal chapters and encouraging strong member associations.
Also, the Lagos State Commissioner of Tourism, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf was chosen by members of the Tourism 100 Club and the Publishers of Travellers Magazine as the Best Tourism Commissioner in Nigeria in 2021. The Lagos Commissioner had engaged stakeholders and initiated training for Tour Operators and Creatives based in Lagos. This has become the benchmark for most states’ in tourism development.
The yearly National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), packaged by the Nigerian Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), has been selected by tourism professionals as the Best Tourism event in Nigeria. This will be the first in the last five years that Carnival Calabar will not be winning the award.
NAFEST was held in Ekiti State and attracted over 30 States who showcased their cultural and creative products. Tour Operators had familiarisation visits to Ekiti, linking NAFEST to the tourism circuit in Nigeria.
Also, Sterling Bank was unanimously chosen as the Most Tourism Friendly Bank of the Year. Ever since the bank showed its intention to participate in the tourism space in Nigeria, it has not relented. Partnering with Lagos State to launch the Lagos Tourism Masterplan was its first major move. It also hosted the World Tourism Day with the world famous Nike Art Gallery in Lagos. It has also partnered with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to provide WiFi at Lagos International Airport, and also introduced loans for Tour Operators to source for tour buses.
Travellers Award also unveiled African World Airline as the Best International Airline in Nigeria and Turkish as the Best from Europe. The winners were chosen from a pool of 27 international airlines that operated 9673 flights and carried over 2 million passengers from 5 airports in Nigeria. The Awards will be presented on March 11, 2022 at Abuja Jabamah.
