President Bola Tinubu has expressed support for a proposal by European aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus to establish aircraft maintenance and hangar facilities in Nigeria as part of plans to transform the country into a regional hub for aviation and aerospace services.President Bola Tinubu has expressed support for a proposal by European aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus to establish aircraft maintenance and hangar facilities in Nigeria as part of plans to transform the country into a regional hub for aviation and aerospace services.
The President also highlighted the country’s urgent demand for modern helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to boost security operations, logistics and other critical national needs as the government continues efforts to combat insecurity in different parts of Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Saturday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, following a meeting between the President and an Airbus delegation during the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali on Thursday.
The Airbus team was led by Thierry Cloutet, the company’s Head of Regional Business Growth for Africa and the Middle East.
During the meeting, Tinubu said his administration was ready to deepen cooperation with Airbus by tapping into the company’s experience in military aviation and aerospace development.
He also urged the company to fast-track the delivery of the three Apache helicopters already ordered by Nigeria to strengthen ongoing counterterrorism and security operations across the country.
“Nigeria needs attack helicopters urgently that can be used to confront and overwhelm terrorists. That is my priority now,” the President said.
Discussions at the meeting also focused on Nigeria’s planned acquisition of the Airbus C-295 aircraft platform, defence aviation collaboration, as well as aircraft leasing and financing arrangements.
According to Onanuga, the talks covered export credit systems, sale-and-lease-back agreements and long-term aircraft financing structures aimed at improving aircraft accessibility for Nigerian airlines and reducing financial pressures within the aviation industry.
Tinubu further explored the idea of establishing an aviation leasing company in Nigeria to create more opportunities within the aviation value chain and improve funding access for local operators.
Speaking during the meeting, Cloutet praised Tinubu’s economic reform policies and efforts to stabilise the aviation sector, while reaffirming Airbus’ commitment to supporting Nigeria’s long-term aerospace ambitions.
He proposed what he described as a “360-degree engagement” approach with Nigeria, covering commercial aviation, military aircraft partnerships, human capital development, sustainability projects, operational hubs and maintenance infrastructure.
The proposed collaboration would also extend to satellite and Earth observation technology.