Mounthill Aviation Marks Anniversary With Nine Aircraft, Eyes Global Expansion

Dr. Chinwe Florence Oti was a cabin attendant when she decided she was going to build her own aviation company. She incorporated Mounthill Aviation Resource Services Limited in 2008, and spent the years that followed laying the groundwork for the company’s success. She started by acquiring one aircraft, and worked toward certifications needed for the company to operate commercially.

The efforts paid off on April 4, 2024, when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) granted Mounthill Aviation its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). Two years later, the Abuja-based aviation company operates nine aircraft, holds two NCAA certifications, and is planning to expand into Africa, Europe, and the United States.

In an interview with THE WHISTLER, Dr. Oti spoke on how she started, what it took to get here and what sets Mounthill Aviation apart in Nigeria’s aviation sector.

“While doing my job (as cabin crew member), I noticed there was a gap that I needed to fill to do things differently from how others were doing it,” she told THE WHISTLER at her office in Abuja.

“And I’m like, let me start my own and empower the youths and carry them along. So, that was what propelled me to go into having my own aviation company.”

“I think I’m one of the first females to have an AOC.”

Mounthill was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on September 9, 2008. For years, it operated in the background of Nigeria’s aviation sector, handling non-commercial flights and charter work on behalf of third parties. The AOC, granted on April 4, 2024, granted Mounthill full commercial operations licence within and outside Nigeria. Today its fleet includes one Learjet 45, one Legacy 600, six Hawker 800XP aircraft, and one Challenger 604.

Also speaking with THE WHISTLER, Ambassador Dr. Olajide Adeyelu, the company’s Accountable Manager, who has overseen the operational side of the growth, attributed the company’s success to teamwork and the trust placed in him and the team by Dr. Oti.

“We started with one aircraft. And right now, we have over eight aircraft on our AOC,” he said.

Adeyelu disclosed that barely a year after obtaining an AOC, Mounthill obtained an Approved Maintenance Organisation certificate from the NCAA, which authorises the company to maintain its own aircraft without external contractors. It is a designation few operators of Mounthill’s age hold.

“If we say there’s like 100% certification in aviation, we have like 90% of it,” Adeyelu told THE WHISTLER.

He attributes that pace to the culture Dr. Oti has built, one where leadership trusts its team to act.

“Mounthill is not just a company but a family. We put people’s ideas together. It’s not just, oh, the MD says let’s do this or the chairman says let’s do that. No, we sit down, we rub minds and we do things together. That’s why I think this level of achievement in two years has been a drastic one.

“Aside from God answering our prayers, I still feel that it’s that freedom and that trust that the management has in us, in me and to lead the team. I think that’s what has made it achievable for us. And when you have your chairman’s backing, you’re literally not scared of anything.”

Asked what he would do differently if starting over, the manager said, “I’ll probably tell the chairman to go on vacation for like one year. But definitely, to do differently, I still think I’ll do the same thing.”

While the company is thankful for the growth it has recorded in two years, Adeyelu noted that Nigeria’s aviation market is not forgiving to operators who plan loosely.

He said fuel prices fluctuate without notice, flying hours rarely match projections, while projections that look reasonable on paper collapse when the market moves differently.

“The problem in Nigeria is there are too many variables that are not fixed,” he said.

“People envisage that, oh, this month they’re going to do 70 hours. And now they did 40 hours. You’ve run at a loss.”

According to him, Mounthill builds its projections around the worst possible outcome rather than the average.

“What Mounthill does: we do every projection based on our worst season. So, no matter how bad it is, we will always break even.”

The company, according to Adeyelu, extends the discipline to how it thinks about service delivery.

He said while competitors often leave passengers stranded, Mounthill Aviation dedicates aircraft to specific operations to avoid disappointing its clients.

“The problem with people in the industry already before we came on board was, they just want to fly, move from A to B without actually solving the problem,” he said.

“We came on board to solve that problem. So when we talk about solving the problem, we’re talking about flights that are well-coordinated. We’re talking about you getting your service end, like, oh, I want to go to Lagos and get there by 10 a.m.? We will deliver that for you. Not the ones that you get to the airport. The crew are still in the house. The aircraft is probably in Maiduguri and you’re in Abuja. They’re not even positioned to take you to Lagos and you’ll miss your meeting or your engagement. So we don’t do that. We dedicate an aircraft for your operation.”

On whether private aviation is still considered a luxury in Nigeria, he said: “It’s no longer a luxury. The level of insecurity in the country demands you to move in a more safe and secure way. And aviation is the easiest way to get from A to B in ample time.”

As part of its next phase, the company is also investing in infrastructure to support its growing operations.

“Aside from the fleet, as I said earlier that we have the AMO, we have also secured approvals of land in Abuja here, 25,000 square feet, that we’re trying to do what we call an FBO (Fixed Base Operator).

“That means we’ll have a maintenance organization, offices, crew lounge, VIP lounge, so that you won’t need to come to the GAT (General Aviation Terminal) to board to leave. You can come into the Mounthill hangar and take off to any part of the world from there,” he stated.

The company is also in discussions with its partners outside Nigeria to expand its operations across Africa, Europe, and the United States.

“We want to make sure that Mounthill Aviation is at the forefront, such that when someone says ‘I need a charter plane,’ the first thing that comes to mind should be Mounthill. And that’s the aim in the next two to three years.

“We’re also delving into air taxis. And we’ll be the first to do it in the country. We’ve already started and we have our partners that are willing to support this dream. It is surprising that we had this thing 30 years ago in Nigeria, but now it’s nowhere to be found. So we want to revive it and bring it back.”