Virgin Nigeria Appoints Mr. Kinfa Fekadu, an Ethiopian, as the Chief Executive Officer.

By Chinedu Eze

The Nigeria Eagle Air-lines (formerly Virgin Nigeria Airways) has appointed an Ethiopian, Mr. Kinfa Fekadu, as the Chief Executive Officer of the major domestic carrier following the exit of Captain Dapo Olumide yesterday. The appointment takes immediate effect.

Also, the board of the airline, which was recently acquired by businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim, has approved the opening of a letter of credit for the purchase of two new aircraft.

In a statement made available to THISDAY by the airline, the new CEO, Fekadu, 47, was until his appointment the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of the airline and has worked for over 22 years in the aviation industry.
Fekadu holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Addis Ababa Univ-ersity and Masters of Technology (ITT) Mumbai and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Open University, United Kingdom.

Fekadu has attended various aviation-related operational and leadership trainings and conferences.
He was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ethiopian Airlines from October 12, 2009 and on January 14 2010 became the COO of Nigerian Eagle Airlines and also doubled as its Chief Commercial Officer.

Fekadu joined Ethiopian Airlines as college trainee on October 13, 1987 and served the airline under various capacities for the last 22 years.
Also appointed are two Executive Directors – Stephen Ojo, Executive Director, Accounts and Finance, and Tadafera, Executive Director, Trea-sury.

The board, the statement said, met in Lagos yesterday and asked Captain Olumide to hand over to Fekadu, noting that the former CEO was expected at the board meeting but did not show up and did not give any reason for his action.
The statement also said: “The Board also approved the opening of letter of credit (L/C) for the purchase of two new aircraft. The purchase will be financed by United Bank for Africa (UBA).”

It was announced at the weekend that Ibrahim acquired the airline which was mired in debts and was threatened with liquidation early last year before the Olumide-led management took over the company and sustained its operations.

Source: www.thisdayonline.com