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Regional airline cleared for take off

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has approved the creation of a subregional airline with an initial capital outlay of US $25 million, the coordinator of the project told reporters in Lagos on Thursday.

The airline, to be known as ECOAIR, will involve governments and private firms in ECOWAS countries, Nigerian newspapers reported project coordinator Yemisi Olusola as saying.

Nigeria will hold the largest share in ECOAIR - 32 percent - followed by Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal with 13, 12.9 and 5.4 percent respectively. Olusola said the national airlines of Ghana, Guinea and Liberia, and Air Afrique would also be offered 10 percent of the shares.

He said US aviation manufacturer Boeing and Israeli Aircraft Industries had indicated their interest in technical partnerships with the airline which, like ECOWAS, will be headquartered in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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