The Presidency on Tuesday confirmed that
newspaper advertisements for the sale of two presidential aircraft, a Falcon 7X
executive jet and Hawker 4000, were duly authorised by President Muhammadu
Buhari.
The Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed this in a statement
made available to journalists.
Shehu said the decision to sell the jets
was in line with the directive of the President that aircraft in the
Presidential Air Fleet should be reduced to cut down on waste.
He explained that the reduction would not
end with the sale of the two jets.
The presidential spokesman said some
aircraft in the fleet would also soon be handed over to the Nigeria Air Force
for its operations.
Shehu said, “When he campaigned to be
President, the then APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari, if you recall, promised to
look at the Presidential Air Fleet with a view to cutting down on waste.
“His directive to a government committee on
this assignment is that he likes to see a compact and reliable aircraft for the
safe airlift of the President, the Vice-President and other government
officials that go on special missions.
“This exercise is by no means complete. I
am sure the Commander of the Presidential Air Fleet will any time from now call
you to a ceremony at which he will hand over some other aircraft to the Air
Force for their operations.”
According to the Presidency, PAF currently
has 10 aircraft. These are: Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or AirForce
One), one Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X,
one Hawker Sidley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two
AgustaWestland AW 101 helicopters.
Each of the two Falcon 7X jets were
purchased in 2010 by the Federal Government for $51.1m, while the Gulfstream
550 costs $53.3m, a former Minister of Information, the late Prof. Dora
Akunyili, had said.
The price of other aircraft in the fleet
could not be ascertained. But according to Wikipedia, price.wescrawler.com and
airline executives, the factory price of other aircraft in the fleet are:
Boeing Business Jet, $59m; HS 4000, $22.9m; AgustaWestland 139, $12m; and
AgusatWestland 101, $21m.
This brings a combined estimated value of
Nigeria’s PAF to $347.4m (N106.13bn).
According to the newspaper advertisement
announcing the sale of the two aircraft, the Falcon 7X with registration number
5N-FGU and serial number 090 is currently located in Abuja.
It indicated that the aircraft entered into
service in 2011 and had completed 2776:47 hours and 2363 cycles.
The advertisement read in part, “Take off
at sea level — 5, 555 ft; landing distance — 2,070ft; certified ceiling — 51,
000ft; cruise speed — 488kts; Easy II Avionics 1A Complainct/Satcom. Interior:
Passenger capacity — 16, crew seating capacity — 3; forward and Aft lavatories;
four large screen monitors; six small adjustable seat mounted monitors and
fully automated media centre.”
The second aircraft, Hawker 4000 with
registration number 5N-FGX and serial number RC 066 entered into service in
2012. It has completed 1178:15 hours and 1146 cycles.
Its details were given thus: “Range —
3190NM; take off at sea level — 5,068 ft; landing distance — 2,475ft; certified
ceiling — 45, 000ft; cruise speed — 482kts; Honeywell Primus Epic
Avionics/Satcom. Interior: Passenger capacity — 9, crew seating capacity – 3
with detachable jump seat; Aft lavatories; two monitors; power outlet in cabin
and cockpit and fully automated media centre.”
Source:The
Punch
Tags
Society