Enugu Air launches first international route with 2 weekly Enugu-Douala flights ⁰

Nigerian carrier Enugu Air launched its first international service on September 23, 2026, with a direct route between Enugu and Douala that gives Cameroon a new air connection to southeast Nigeria.

The airline, which is owned by Enugu State, will operate two flights a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, with a 76-seat Embraer E170. Douala becomes its first international destination.

The inaugural aircraft departed Akanu Ibiam International Airport and landed at Douala International Airport, where officials held a welcoming ceremony, before it returned to Enugu. The flight confirmed the start of a route announced a few days earlier.

Flights from Enugu are scheduled to depart at 12:45 p.m. and arrive in Douala at 1:45 p.m. Return flights will leave Douala at 2:30 p.m. and reach Enugu at 3:30 p.m.

Ugonna Agubuokwu, director of operations, said the schedule was designed in part to provide connections with Lagos and Abuja. Enugu Air already serves Port Harcourt, Kano, Owerri, Asaba, Benin City and Warri within Nigeria.

“Today, we take our first major step beyond Nigeria. Enugu to Douala. Nigeria to Cameroon. The Southeast to Central Africa. And this is only the beginning,” Enugu Air Managing Director Tolu Ita said at the launch.

A New Gateway to Southeast Nigeria

Enugu Air is not the first airline to offer direct flights between Nigeria and Cameroon. Air Peace already operates the Lagos-Douala route and still showed availability for subsequent weeks in September 2026.

The difference is the location of the new connection. Enugu Air links Douala directly with southeast Nigeria, which means air travelers no longer necessarily have to pass through Lagos to reach Enugu. The airline also offers connections to Douala through Enugu for passengers from Lagos and Abuja. The flight complements an existing land corridor centered on Enugu. The city forms the Nigerian end of the roughly 438-kilometer Yaoundé-Bamenda-Enugu corridor. On the Cameroon side, another 35 kilometers of the Babadjou-Bamenda section opened in September 2025.

The Ekok-Mfum bridge over the Cross River also forms part of the Bamenda-Mamfe-Abakaliki-Enugu route. The new service therefore adds an air connection to cross-border links that have largely relied on roads.

Trade Estimated at CFA414.12 Billion

The route also connects two countries with significant merchandise trade, much of which takes place outside formal customs channels. According to Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics (INS), the country officially imported CFA149.83 billion worth of Nigerian goods in 2024 and exported CFA22.85 billion worth of goods to Nigeria.

The INS also estimated unrecorded imports from Nigeria at CFA176.58 billion and Cameroon’s exports outside formal channels at CFA64.86 billion. Combined, merchandise trade between the two countries would therefore have reached CFA414.12 billion in 2024. On the import side, informal trade accounted for 54.1% of the estimated CFA326.41 billion in goods that entered Cameroon from Nigeria.

The Enugu State government has highlighted these commercial ties as part of the case for the route. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, commissioner for Trade, Investment and Industry, said traders and manufacturers in southeast Nigeria previously had to use more complex routes to reach Central African markets. He said the Douala connection should shorten those journeys.

Two Weekly Flights, but No Traffic Forecast Yet

The key question is how much demand Enugu Air will find on the route. Neither the airline nor the Enugu State government has disclosed an annual passenger forecast, the inaugural flight’s load factor or a commercial target for the service.

Before the launch, the booking system reviewed by ch-aviation showed two weekly flights through October 28, 2026. That date reflected the booking horizon available at the time and does not mean the service will end after October.

Bookings beyond October, whether Enugu Air maintains its twice-weekly schedule and any future increase in frequency will provide the first indications of whether the route can establish itself over the longer term.

Source: Business in Cameroon