The bid by United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited to raise up to ₦20 billion through its debut Series 1 & Series 2 Commercial Paper Issuance under its ₦100 Billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme is billed to close Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
According to details of the issuance programme, net proceeds of the two-tranche CP will be used to support United Nigeria Airlines’ short-term working capital needs and funding requirements.
The Series 1 CP, with a 270-day tenor has a discount rate of 18.5498% and implied yield of 21.5000%; while series 2 is 364-day tenor, 19.0383% discount rate and 23.5% implied yield.
United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited was incorporated in 2008 and began commercial operations 13 years later in 2021 and has since built a growing domestic aviation platform, connecting major commercial centres and underserved destinations across the country.
Since the commencement of operations, the company has grown both in its fleet size and routes and is currently the second largest airline in Nigeria, with a fleet of 10 aircraft across four aircraft types: Embraer ERJ-145, Boeing 737-800, Embraer E190 and CRJ900. This includes aircrafts that are owned by the company and those on ACMI (wet-lease).
With these, United Nigeria currently operates a network across 13 domestic locations across the Southeast, Northwest, and parts of the Southwest and North Central regions.
In November 2025, the airline commenced regional operations to Accra, Ghana, marking its first major step on its regional expansion journey.
The company’s performance is evident in its financials, growing its revenue from ₦10.3 billion in the 2021 full-year to ₦90.8 billion by the same period of 2025, representing a growth of about 72% CAGR. Profit after tax increased from ₦1.3 billion to ₦23.8 billion over the same period.
In FY2025, revenue grew by 61%, while gross profit margin expanded from 19% to 38%, as revenue growth outpaced the increase in direct costs. The balance sheet has also grown over the period, with Total assets increasing from ₦6.23bn in FY2021 to ₦67.16bn in FY2025 representing an 81.19% CAGR, while total equity from by ₦1.82bn to ₦39.04bn over the same period (about 115.31% CAGR).
This growth in the Company’s financial performance has been driven by the expansion of its core operations as evidenced by the increase in total flights from 6,853 in its first year of operations to 18,393 in 2025, while annual passenger traffic tripled from 212,373 passengers in 2021 to 637,670 passengers in 2025.
Building on this growth, United Nigeria is entering its next phase of expansion, with the acquisition of two Boeing 737-800 aircraft and plans to further expand its fleet, increase flight frequencies and deepen its regional footprint.
The airline is also working towards commencing international operations to the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Turkey, Italy, and the Netherlands, subject to the requisite regulatory approvals,.
