Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf unveiled plans Thursday to establish a state-owned commercial airline aimed at creating jobs for Kano indigenes who have completed professional pilot training, saying the carrier is expected to begin operations within a year.
Yusuf disclosed the plan during the state’s 40th Executive Council Meeting at the Government House in Kano, where he received several awards, including one from the Kano State Pilot Association recognizing his administration’s support for members completing their aviation training. The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Dawakin-Tofa.
“By the grace of God, the proposed Kano Airline will commence operations within the next one year. We are committed to providing all the necessary support to actualise the project and ensure its successful operation,” Yusuf said.
The governor also praised the performance of Kano-sponsored pilots trained in Jordan under a program launched by a previous administration, saying their progress had strengthened his confidence in the state’s pipeline of aviation talent. “I am impressed by the outstanding performance of our young pilots. We will continue to support them and create opportunities for them to contribute meaningfully to the development of the aviation sector,” he said.
Kano State Pilot Association Chairman Naziru Ibrahim commended the governor for facilitating the revalidation of members’ flying licenses, a process required to keep a pilot’s certification active and legally valid for flight operations. Ibrahim appealed for further government assistance to help members obtain final certifications that would qualify them to operate commercial flights both domestically and internationally.
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“We appreciate Your Excellency for your continued support, particularly in helping our members revalidate their flying licences,” Ibrahim said, adding that additional support toward final certification remained the association’s immediate priority.
The proposed Kano Airline would enter a Nigerian domestic aviation market that has seen repeated turnover among carriers over the past two decades, with several previous state and privately backed airlines folding due to financing difficulties, fleet maintenance costs, and route profitability challenges. Establishing and sustaining a commercial airline requires securing an Air Operator’s Certificate from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, a process that typically involves demonstrated financial capacity, safety and maintenance infrastructure, and a qualified crew base, in addition to acquiring or leasing aircraft, a capital-intensive step that has stalled similar announced ventures in Nigeria before they reached commercial launch.
The plan builds on Kano State’s earlier pilot-sponsorship initiative, under which a previous state administration funded professional flight training for indigenes in Jordan, a country that has hosted foreign cadet pilot programs through its aviation training institutions. Graduates of such programs typically still require type-rating certification on specific aircraft models and accumulated flight hours before they can be employed as commercial airline pilots, a certification gap that appears to align with Ibrahim’s appeal for continued government support toward final qualification.
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Yusuf’s announcement did not specify the airline’s intended fleet size, route network, funding source, or ownership structure, nor did it indicate whether the carrier would operate as a wholly state-owned entity or through a public-private partnership model, an approach some Nigerian state governments have used for other transport and infrastructure ventures. No timeline was given for securing regulatory approval from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, a step that would need to precede any commercial launch within the one-year window the governor cited.
The number of Kano-sponsored pilots who have completed training in Jordan, and how many currently hold valid or revalidated flying licenses, was not disclosed in Thursday’s statement.
