Keyamo: Nigeria will soon secure dry lease aircraft deal — first in decades

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says the federal government will announce a dry lease aircraft deal soon — the first in almost two decades.

In an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Keyamo said the government’s new policies are beginning to yield results, with a local airline set to seal the agreement in less than two weeks.

He said dry lease agreements are rare in Nigeria due to concerns by foreign lessors about safety and asset recovery.

In September 2024, Nigeria officially signed the Cape Town Convention (CTC) practice direction to enable domestic airline operators to access aircraft on dry lease.

Dry lease is an arrangement which involves hiring an aircraft without a flight crew. The hiring entity (the lessee) takes on operational responsibilities, such as crew members and maintenance.

During the interview, Keyamo said recent reforms have begun to restore confidence in the system.

“In the next few days, perhaps less than two weeks, we are going to announce the first big deal that a local airline is having, that in the last maybe nearly two decades, they have never had a dry lease coming to Nigeria,” the minister said.

“Nobody gives you a dry lease, which is three times less than a wet lease. They give you a wet lease, they will bring their crew, their everything, and they will be in charge of the plane, so that once you default, they go.

“A dry lease is when they give it to you. Go and do what you like, because they are confident that within your country, it is healthy enough, it is safe enough for them to get their assets back. So the first big deal is coming.”

Keyamo said once the deal is concluded, it will open the door for other local airlines to access similar arrangements, potentially bringing down ticket prices.

‘HEATHROW ROUTE ACHIEVEMENT WILL FURTHER CRASH FARES’

The minister also spoke about the recent approval for Air Peace to operate direct flights into Heathrow — London’s busiest airport — noting that it was achieved through diplomatic engagements.

He said the United Kingdom (UK) initially granted the airline access to Gatwick, but the government continued to push for Heathrow because of its status as a major global aviation hub.

“Nigerians have been complaining about the expensive international tickets that we buy, and we felt as government, we didn’t want to leave the local airlines to their fate,” he said.

“Government has a duty to create an enabling environment for private businesses to thrive and for citizens to enjoy the gains of the competition in an economy — healthy competition.

“So we decided to ensure that we got one of our local airlines on that route, because the Lagos-London route is one of the busiest in Nigeria. Now, the immediate implications of that are more than two or three.”

Keyamo said the development has already started to impact ticket prices, adding that he expects fares to drop further in the coming months.

Beyond cheaper tickets, the minister noted that Heathrow access would enhance connectivity and position Nigerian airlines to benefit from interline and codeshare agreements.

“So even if Airpeace is not flying to the US, Airpeace will take you to London and hand you over to another airline that they have interlined with to take you to US,” he added.

On June 21, Keyamo announced that Nigeria had finally secured a Heathrow slot for Air Peace under the bilateral air services agreement (BASA) with the UK.