Calabar: The Cross River Government has procured two new aircraft to increase the fleet of Cally Air to four. Vice President Kashim Shettima inaugurated the two new aircraft at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar. Recall that two aircraft earlier procured for the take-off of the Cross River-owned Cally Air are currently being managed by ValueJet pending the issuance of an operating license.

According to News Agency of Nigeria, Gov. Bassey Otu stated that the state government plans to increase the fleet of Cally Air to seven. “We already have two aircraft that are flying, we are adding another two today, and very soon, we shall add another three to make it seven,” he said.

Otu emphasized that his administration is building on three areas of development initiated by his predecessors. He mentioned that his predecessors initiated projects in tourism, rural development, and industrialization. “I came into government to meet three engines that were started by my predecessors. The first engine is tourism which was begun by Donald Duke. I also saw rural development which was anchored by Liyel Imoke, and I saw industrialization which was started by Prof. Ben Ayade,” he stated.

The governor explained that the plans of these leaders were to move the state away from dependency on the center. “When I came into office, I saw the reason to integrate these three engines in order to create a robust economy that can take the state to another level. Today, we are building on the aviation sector which is very key to our tourism development target,” he added.