C/River to float own airline – Ayade

The Cross River State Government will establish its own airline with Dana Group as operators.
 Governor Ben Ayade, who revealed this, said that the airline would be called Cally airline.
 The Dana Group, a consortium of Indian investors, would partner the state on airline and pharmaceuticals businesses.
 Speaking in Calabar, Ayade said that the Cally airline would come on stream soon, adding that the Dana Group would oversee the management of the airline and Calabar pharmaceutical company, to be known as CalaPharm.
 He said: “I am sure that in the next two to three months, you will all see Dana Air flying to Calabar. We have our own state’s aircraft, which Dana has agreed to do a detailed technical study of the aircraft, which is in Aero Contractor’s fleet in Lagos.
 “Cally air will fly Calabar, Obudu, Lagos and, of course, Abuja. We are in a haste to get Cally air started, so Calabar will have its own airline in partnership with Dana as its technical operator and we have also reached a point where we will be signing up on that deal.”
Speaking on the partnership, Jackies Hartmani of Dana Air said: “Dana Air is very impressed with what governor Ayade is doing to transform the state in terms of investment and we are committed to ensuring the success of the partnership.”