Chanchangi Airlines
Encyclopedia
Chanchangi Airlines Nigeria Limited is a privately owned and operated airline
with its Administrative Head Office in Kaduna
in Nigeria
. It operates scheduled domestic passenger services. Its main base was Murtala Mohammed International Airport
, Lagos
, with hubs at Kaduna Airport
, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
, Abuja
and Port Harcourt International Airport
.
, Lagos
, Owerri
, Abuja
and Port Harcourt on 2 May 1997. Services were operated using Boeing 727-200
aircraft, 3 Boeing 737-200
aircraft and 2 Boeing 737-300
aircraft were also acquired in 2009. Chanchangi Airlines won the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) and the Corporate Merit Award for “Best Domestic Airline of the Year” for 1998, 1999 and 2000.
In 2004 it obtained route authorities for services to Abidjan
, Accra, Dakar
, Douala
and Malabo
. On 26 March 2006 services from Lagos to Accra were introduced, but have currently been suspended. The airline is owned by Alhaji Ahmadu Chanchangi (94%) and four other individuals holding a 1% stake each. It has 780 employees (at March 2007).
The Nigerian government set a deadline of April 30, 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s criteria in terms of re-capitalization and was re-registered for operation.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded Chanchangi Airlines on July 5, 2010, citing a regulation that no airline can operate with only one aircraft in service, which was the case with Chanchangi at the time of its closure. On October 21, 2010, Chanchangi Airlines resumed operations between Lagos and Abuja.
Nigeria
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
with its Administrative Head Office in Kaduna
Kaduna
Kaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. It operates scheduled domestic passenger services. Its main base was Murtala Mohammed International Airport
Murtala Mohammed International Airport
Murtala Muhammed International Airport is an international airport located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the city of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria and the entire nation. Originally known as Lagos International Airport, it was renamed midway during construction...
, Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, with hubs at Kaduna Airport
Kaduna Airport
Kaduna Airport is an airport serving Kaduna, a city in the Kaduna State of Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal.Kaduna also has an older airport located southeast of this newer airport.)-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:...
, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is an international airport located in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria, and is the main airport serving the Nigerian capital city. It was named after Nigeria's first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. It consists of an international and a domestic terminal. Both terminals...
, Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
and Port Harcourt International Airport
Port Harcourt International Airport
Port Harcourt International Airport is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt city in Rivers State, Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights...
.
History
The airline was established on 5 January 1994 by Alhaji Chanchangi and started flight operations to and from KadunaKaduna
Kaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
, Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, Owerri
Owerri
Owerri is the capital of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of the Igboland. Owerri consists of three Local Govern Areas including Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West, it has an estimated population of about 400,000 as of 2006...
, Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
and Port Harcourt on 2 May 1997. Services were operated using Boeing 727-200
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
aircraft, 3 Boeing 737-200
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft and 2 Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft were also acquired in 2009. Chanchangi Airlines won the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria is a service organization statutorily charged to manage all Commercial Airports in Nigeria and provide service to both passenger and airlines. Generally, to create conditions for the development in the most economic and efficient manner of air transport and the...
(FAAN) and the Corporate Merit Award for “Best Domestic Airline of the Year” for 1998, 1999 and 2000.
In 2004 it obtained route authorities for services to Abidjan
Abidjan
Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Côte d'Ivoire, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, and Kinshasa but before Montreal...
, Accra, Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Douala
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...
and Malabo
Malabo
Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea, located on the northern coast of Bioko Island on the rim of a sunken volcano....
. On 26 March 2006 services from Lagos to Accra were introduced, but have currently been suspended. The airline is owned by Alhaji Ahmadu Chanchangi (94%) and four other individuals holding a 1% stake each. It has 780 employees (at March 2007).
The Nigerian government set a deadline of April 30, 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s criteria in terms of re-capitalization and was re-registered for operation.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded Chanchangi Airlines on July 5, 2010, citing a regulation that no airline can operate with only one aircraft in service, which was the case with Chanchangi at the time of its closure. On October 21, 2010, Chanchangi Airlines resumed operations between Lagos and Abuja.
Destinations
Chanchangi Airlines serves the following destinations as of November 2010:Nigeria
- AbujaAbujaAbuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
- Nnamdi Azikiwe International AirportNnamdi Azikiwe International AirportNnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is an international airport located in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria, and is the main airport serving the Nigerian capital city. It was named after Nigeria's first President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. It consists of an international and a domestic terminal. Both terminals... - KadunaKadunaKaduna is the state capital of Kaduna State in north-central Nigeria. The city, located on the Kaduna River, is a trade center and a major transportation hub for the surrounding agricultural areas with its rail and road junction. The population of Kaduna is at 760,084 as of the 2006 Nigerian census...
- Kaduna AirportKaduna AirportKaduna Airport is an airport serving Kaduna, a city in the Kaduna State of Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal.Kaduna also has an older airport located southeast of this newer airport.)-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:... - LagosLagosLagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
- Murtala Mohammed International AirportMurtala Mohammed International AirportMurtala Muhammed International Airport is an international airport located in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria, and is the major airport serving the city of Lagos, southwestern Nigeria and the entire nation. Originally known as Lagos International Airport, it was renamed midway during construction...
Hub - Port Harcourt - Port Harcourt International AirportPort Harcourt International AirportPort Harcourt International Airport is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt city in Rivers State, Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights...
Charter Flights
Chanchangi Airlines has conducted charter flight both within and outside Nigeria. Some of its Charter partners include:- The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
- The Nigerian Army
- Armed Forces Command & Staff College, Jaji
- Nigerian Football Authority
- Getra in Equatorial Guinea
Incidents
- One of Chanchangi Airlines Boeing 727s crash landed (with a landing gear problem) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on 29 December 2004 after a flight from Port Harcourt. The 81 people on board were uninjured and there was no major damage to the plane. As a result the remaining 5 Boeing 727s were grounded to enable investigators to carry out in depth inspections on the aircraft. On 3 January 2005 the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) permitted the resumption of full flight operations.
- Following the crash of Sosoliso Airlines flight 1145Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 was a scheduled flight between the Nigerian cities of Abuja and Port Harcourt .At about 14:08 local time on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abuja crash-landed on the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with 110...
on December 10, 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo grounded both Sosoliso and Chanchangi Airlines. Chanchangi's grounding was based on a report that its operations were unsafe. After passing inspections by Nigeria's aviation ministry, Chanchangi was allowed to resume operations on December 22, 2005. - A Boeing 727 en route to Abuja was forced to return to Lagos on May 9 after the crew reported a problem with the aircraft's air conditioning system.
- On August 22, 2006, two tyres burst on a Boeing 727 with 98 passengers on board. The pilot reportedly made a hard landing to grip with the wet runway after a heavy rain at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. There were no casualties.
- Chanchangi suffered multiple safety incidents and near-accidents in mid/late 2007. A Kaduna-Lagos flight was aborted after an engine blade broke off about twenty minutes into the flight. In mid September, a Lagos-Abuja flight returned to Lagos after hydraulic leakages were discovered.
- On October 13, 2007, a Boeing 727 making a trip from Kaduna to Abuja en route to Lagos suffered a cockpit fire.
- On 20 August 2010, Chanchangi Flight 334, operated by Boeing 737-200 5N-BIF struck the localiser antenna and landed short of the runway at Kaduna AirportKaduna AirportKaduna Airport is an airport serving Kaduna, a city in the Kaduna State of Nigeria. The airport consists of a single terminal.Kaduna also has an older airport located southeast of this newer airport.)-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:...
. Several passengers were slightly injured and the aircraft was substantially damaged. Chanchangi Airlines again suspended operations following the accident.
Fleet
The Chanchangi Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft :- 1 Boeing 737-300 (operated by Jordan AviationJordan AviationJordan Aviation is an airline based in Amman, Jordan. It operates scheduled and worldwide charter services flights, mainly to the Middle East, Europe and Africa. It also provides wet lease services to major airlines seeking additional capacity. Its main bases are Marka Airport, Amman and Aqaba...
) - 2 Boeing 737-300 BMB and BMC