by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
August 13, 2025
The aviation firm has accomplished a 7,800 landings verify on one in every of its planes, the primary to ever happen in Africa.
Elin Air is showcasing the potential of the aviation business inside Africa and, extra particularly, Nigeria.
The personal Nigerian airline, nonetheless, didn’t attain a historic milestone with long-haul flights. As an alternative, its prowess lies in its upkeep of plane programs. Elin Air turned the primary African-based aviation firm to finish a 7,800 landings verify for a Bombardier Challenger CL604.
Elin Air’s CEO, Dr. Elizabeth Jack-Wealthy, believes that Africa at all times had the expertise and capabilities to satisfy this objective, and has now proved it to the worldwide aviation scene.
“To us, this milestone isn’t just a technical achievement; it’s a press release of risk,” she informed Enterprise Insider Africa. “Finishing the 7,800 landings verify domestically demonstrates that Nigeria possesses the expertise, infrastructure, and self-discipline to ship complicated aviation tasks to the best worldwide requirements.”
Based on The Punch, the 7,800-landing verify is likely one of the “most complete inspections” for an plane. It entails the whole disassembly, inspection, overhaul, and reassembly of main programs and constructions, and infrequently requiring greater than 6,000 man-hours.
She continued, “For Elin Air, it reinforces our model promise: operational excellence rooted in African functionality. For the broader business, it serves as a proof of idea that we are able to cut back our dependence on overseas amenities, maintain income throughout the nation, and encourage the subsequent technology of aviation professionals.”
The process came about at Elin Air’s hangar facility, with a homegrown crew of Nigerian engineers finishing the measure from April to June 2025. The crew eliminated and serviced key components of the plane, embrace its engines, gasoline tanks, and flight management programs. Additionally they carried out extra 600-hour and 1,200-hour inspections, whereas refurbishing the airplane’s inside to trendy luxurious requirements.
“By entrusting our native engineers and technicians with this mission, we gave them the chance to display their competence on a worldwide stage,” Jack-Wealthy stated. “It was additionally a deliberate stand: to display that with the best coaching, management, and sources, Nigerian professionals can meet and even surpass international requirements,” she added.
Whereas they nonetheless underwent challenges and tight deadlines, their adaptability and dedication proved worthwhile. Jack-Wealthy believes this achievement is step one towards making Elin Air the “go-to African hub for world-class upkeep, restore, and overhaul companies.”
Elin Air has already established a pipeline for Nigerians to unfold their very own wings in aviation by way of apprenticeships, worldwide change applications, and sponsored technical certifications. The corporate hopes to create a motion the place Nigerian and African aviation fans turn out to be leaders within the business.
“5 years from now, I need Elin Air to be remembered as the corporate that not solely met, but in addition set, international aviation requirements in Africa,” Jack-Wealthy stated. “I need our legacy to be a mixture of security, excellence, and transformation, a whole bunch of extremely expert professionals skilled, 1000’s of protected flights accomplished, and Nigeria positioned as a revered identify in worldwide aviation. “
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