By George Ozalla
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has received separate visits from the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, and officials from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), a leading aircraft manufacturing company.
During the courtesy call, Ambassador Yu Dunhai expressed China’s commitment to supporting Minister Keyamo’s developmental concepts for Nigeria’s aviation sector. He emphasized that aviation is a critical driver of economic growth and connectivity, noting that Nigeria offers immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation. “Nigeria has the market, and I see the potential. The economy is going to bounce back soon, and China is ready to be a reliable partner in this growth trajectory,” Ambassador Yu stated.
In a separate engagement, COMAC’s Vice President of Marketing/Sales Committee, Yang Yang, held strategic discussions with Minister Keyamo on avenues of collaboration between COMAC and Nigerian airlines. The discussions focused on aircraft leasing, technical support services, and long-term cooperation. Minister Keyamo welcomed the discussions and reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness for strategic partnerships with the Chinese aviation giant. “We are ready for this collaboration and will soon lead a delegation of domestic airline executives to COMAC’s headquarters to deepen these discussions. Nigeria is open to allowing COMAC to use our country as a base to access the wider African market,” Minister Keyamo stated.
The twin visits mark a significant step in strengthening Nigeria-China aviation relations and open new frontiers for domestic airlines to access modern aircraft leasing and support services tailored to Nigeria’s expanding aviation market.
