Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, yesterday took delivery of another Boeing 737 aircraft at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, for the state commercial airline called Cally Air.

The arrival of the second aircraft is coming barely three weeks after the first one was received on April 6, 2021.

On the ground to receive the second aircraft at Arik Air hanger in Lagos were the trio of the state Commissioner for Finance, Auquo Ekpeyong Jr.; the Director-General of Due Process, Alphonsus Ogar, and the Director-General, Bureau of Public-Private Partnership, Udiba Udiba.

The two Boeing 737 aircraft have a carrying capacity of 142 and 144 passengers respectively.

Ayade, while announcing the floating of Cally Air early this year, had decried the prohibitive air transport cost in the country, particularly the Lagos-Calabar and Calabar-Abuja routes, querying why "a passenger would pay over N70,000 to fly to Calabar? The route to Calabar either from Lagos or Abuja is the most expensive in Nigeria."

The governor explained that the outrageous charges were due to "the fact that there is no corresponding surplus of airlines coming into Calabar. "So it is the responsibility of the government to respond to the challenge of our people, recognising that they are being extorted as a result of monopoly."

He said he created the Ministry of Aviation to bring into realisation the birth of Cally Air.

"We are constructing an airport in Obudu to support the patronage of international tourists coming to Obudu cattle ranch.

"We need to also take advantage of the massive climatic condition suitable for the growth of ornamental plants for export in Obudu cattle ranch," he said.

Ayade said: "It would increase the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and also generate employment opportunities for the unemployed youths in the state," adding that the airline would fly Lagos-Calabar-Obudu and Abuja- Calabar-Obudu-Lagos routes.