United Nigeria Airlines

United Nigeria Airlines Limited, trading as United Nigeria Airlines, is a private airline in Nigeria. The new start-up received its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), on 1 February 2021. Headquartered in the city of Enugu, with an office in Abuja, and with its operations base at Enugu International Airport, United Nigeria Airlines started with four aircraft to operate scheduled flights between nine Nigerian cities: Abuja, Onitsha, Asaba, Yenagoa, Warri, Enugu, Owerri, Lagos, and Port Harcourt.

Overview
United Nigeria Airlines was established in 2020. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Nigeria Airlines Limited, a Nigerian company affiliated with Obiorah Okonkwo, a Russian-trained political scientist, businessman and entrepreneur.

The airline took delivery of four 50-seater Embraer ERJ-145LR aircraft during the second half of 2020. After rigorous examination by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which included test flights, NCAA granted the airline an AOC on 1 February 2021. The initial AOC was valid until 31 January 2023.

On 12 February 2021, United Nigeria Airlines made its inaugural flight from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State, to Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu State. The flight had a 100 percent passenger load factor.

Destinations
As of April 2021, United Nigeria Airlines maintained regular scheduled services to the following destinations:

Fleet
The United Nigeria Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft as of October 2023:

Incidents and accidents

 * On 17 November 2021, a United Nigeria Embraer 145 with 43 passengers and four crew, flying from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to Murtala Muhammad International Airport, reported hearing two loud explosions followed by an engine flameout after departure. The crew declared an emergency and returned safely to Abuja on a single engine. The preliminary investigation by the Accident Investigation Bureau (Nigeria) revealed that the flight data recorder had been disabled and did not record the incident on the flight.


 * On 8 September 2023, one of their aircraft overshot the runway while attempting to land by 20 meters at Lagos airport after returning from Owerri. There were no casualties reported in the incident.


 * On November 26, 2023, Flight UN504 from Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) to Abuja Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport (ABV) landed in Asaba International Airport (ABB). The airline indicated this diversion was due to weather, but authorities disagreed with the airline's claims of bad weather in Abuja at the time of the incident. An investigation regarding the incident is currently ongoing.