Med-View seeks $50M funding

dubai — Nigeria’s Med-View Airline is currently looking for partners and investments of $50 million (Dh183.5 million) and from the UAE as it looks to expand its fleet, its managing director said.

“We are looking for partners and interested persons for funding up to $50 million from the UAE. We have six aircraft and will be adding two more in order to grow step-by-step,” said Alhaji Muneer Bankole.

Bankole was speaking to Khaleej Times at the launch of inaugural flight to Dubai from Nigeria. The airline already operates flights to Jeddah, London and the US.

The inaugural flight touched down in Dubai on December 8, arriving from Lagos and Abuja. The airline will have three flights a week between Dubai and Nigeria. African carriers are projected to post $100 million loss during 2018, same as in 2017, according to the International Air Transport Association. Bankole revealed that the company is at advanced stage in talks with Boeing for the long-haul B777 aircraft and the deal is expected to be closed in the firstquarter of 2018.

In terms of funding, Bankole noted that the carrier is talking to financial institutions and Boeing.

“We have strong partner First Bank of Nigeria. We are coming to talk to UAE banks and investors to see how they can be a partner. We hope to close the deal for two new aircraft in the first quarter,” he pointed out.

The carrier, according to Bankole, had a passenger load factor of 80 per cent during the first two days of flights of Dubai.

— waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com