Fidelity Bank Group Managing Director/CEO, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, has called on the Federal Government to create a special funding window to bridge the over $25 billion financing gap threatening the aviation sector.

Onyeali-Ikpe made the call during a session at the Nigeria International Air Show at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

She said commercial lending benchmarked against the monetary policy rate (MPR) is unsustainable for airline operators who rely heavily on loans to acquire aircraft and maintain operations.

“We have been advocating that an aviation fund should be initiated from the cash reserve ratio (CRR). We have requested that funding for airlines come out of the CRR,” she said.

She argued that aviation – an essential industry – deserves access to special interest rates and a tailored financing structure to support fleet acquisition, maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.

She noted that an aircraft acquisition costs sometimes as high as $80 million, making it difficult for operators to survive without special intervention.

Onyeali-Ikpe explained that the bank’s renewed support for the sector followed its successful partnership with Air Peace, which she described as its “test case.”

She said Air Peace’s financial discipline, corporate governance and resilience have helped to rebuild lender confidence after earlier industry collapses eroded appetite for aviation loans.

“Today, we can support at least 500 airlines fully and 10 through its vendors, because our test case succeeded,” she said.

The Fidelity CEO highlighted the economic relevance of aviation, citing 86 domestic flights, 216,000 jobs and more than 16 million passengers currently being served in the Nigerian market.