57 MILLION DOLLAR PRIVATE JETS!! NIGERIA'S JET SET!! HOW THE SUPER RICH TRAVEL!
Yes honestly travelling will not be complete without a private jet! I mean seriously, it is a must travelling around Nigeria. Well looks like BBC got interested in learning about how we roll! So here goes! Thanks to Execujet!
Nigeria's rich elite are increasingly buying private jets to avoid flying on commercial airlines, reports the BBC's Tomi Oladipo from Lagos.
"There's an average of nine aircrafts fixed here in the hangar," says Peter de Waal of ExecuJet Aviation Nigeria, looking across at a line of sleek jets, as a team of engineers works on them.
ExecuJet provides a hangar and is authorised by major aviation companies to provide maintenance services for business aircraft, attesting to the rapid growth of the private aircraft industry in Nigeria.
"Maintenance was done in Europe and the United States, but our services here can help save time and an enormous cost," Mr De Waal told the BBC.
Most of the jet owners prefer to avoid the spotlight, especially when it comes to discussing their wealth, although within aviation circles it is common knowledge who owns what.
The long-range Bombardier Global Express XRS, worth about $50m (£30m), is preferred by those at the top of the rich list, including Africa's wealthiest businessman Aliko Dangote, oil baroness Folorunsho Alakija, and the mobile phone tycoon Mike Adenuga, who also own both short and long-range business aircraft.
Other common models - ranging from about $57m to $39m - are the Gulfstream G550, Bombardier Challenger 605, and Dassault Falcon 900, with owners ranging from politicians to clergymen.
Mr De Waal makes a quick phone call to a jet owner and I am granted access to a sleek Falcon 900.
AND THEN THEY WANTED TO TAX US!!
In October 2013, the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority introduced a luxury tax of about $3,000 for every departure of a private jet.
The jet owners responded by saying it was unfair and the senate soon ordered a suspension of the levy - a sign of the political influence of Nigeria's wealthy businessmen and women.
OKAY OFF TO PARIS DOLLS!!
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