Nigerian flag carrier opens Sierra Leone, Gambia to investments from African nations, and the world

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Overland Airways’ Embraer E175 is being welcomed to Freetown International Airport, FIA, with a water cannon salute

The most resilient airline in the Nigerian air transport industry, Overland Airways, has launched its service brand to the countries that constitute the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, with Sierra Leone as the first to serve among the countries in the region

Overland Airways which is still waxing stronger after two decades and two years of being consistently consistent in its avowed air services has not only lived up to expectations, even in the face of some grim headwind on the domestic terrain yet, the airline just added Sierra Leone to its routes. Bajui Gambia has followed suit

Despite being the undisputed master of the game at home, Capt Edward Boyo humbly received a warm handshake from, the Director General, of Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority, SLCAA, Mrs Musayeroh Barrie, at the Freetown International Airport, FIA.

The inaugural flight was made on Thursday, December 19th 2024. The aircraft took off at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at 3.20 pm, with a brand new Embraer E175, which arrived at Freetown by 6:17 pm. The aircraft was welcomed with a water cannon at the Freetown International Airport, FIA. The GMT played a role in the arrival time in Freetown as Sierra Leone is one hour ahead of Nigeria.

Top Sierra Leonean government officials who received passengers and other dignitaries in the inaugural flight included, the Director General of Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA), Mrs Musayeroh Barrie, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Kwame Yaukson, and Dr Alberd Firde, representative of the Minister of Transport and Aviation, Sierra Leone, Amb. Alhaji Fanday Turay.

L-R: Capt Edward Boyo, GMD, Overland Airways (2nd), Mrs Musayeroh Barrie, DG, Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority, SLCAA, (3rd), and other dignitaries at a brief reception in Freetown to welcome Nigeria’s flag carrier Overland Airways, to Sierra Leone

Captain Edward Boyo, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Overland Airways told Sierra Leoneans that the airline was not on the route to exploit but to give passengers full value for any products procured from the airline.

He assured his audience and by extension Sierra Leoneans that the management of the airline was implicitly committed to contributing its quota to the actualization of the goal and objective that the Single African Air Transport Market, SAATM, was conceived to achieve

The crew of the historic flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone; 2nd right is the flight Commander, Capt Almir Suman, to his left is the First Officer, while to his right is Capt Edward Boyo, CEO of Overland Airways, and the cabin crew

The Managing Director announced the airline’s expansion program to serve the West coast of Africa in the coming weeks. He enumerated the routes to be added to include: Banjul, Monrovia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Dakar, Ghana, Ivory Coast and other route networks.

Moreover, Overland Airways Flagge off Lagos, Nigeria to Banjul capital city of the Gambia, on Saturday, 21st December 2024. Details shortly