An kafa kamfanin jiragen sama na Nigeria Airways a ranar 23 ga Agusta 1958. Ya sami nasarar narkar da Kamfanin Jirgin Sama na Afirka ta Yamma (WAAC), kuma da farko ana kiransa WAAC Nigeria . Kamfanin ya karɓi kadarorin WAAC da dukiyar sa kuma ya fara aiki a ranar 1 ga Oktoba 1958. A cikin haɗin gwiwa tare da Pan American Airways (PAA), hanyar Legas zuwa New York an buɗe hanyar a cikin Oktoba 1964 ta amfani da jirgin PAA's DC-8 da Boeing 707 . WAAC Nigeria ta canza suna zuwa Nigeria Airways a shekarar 1971. Jirgin ruwan ya mallaki duka mallakin Gwamnatin Najeriya kusan kusan rayuwarta gaba daya. Kamfanin jirgin sama ya daina aiki a 2003. Wadannan masu zuwa sune yawan tashin jirgin Jirgin saman Nigeria Airways ya tashi zuwa duk cikin tarihinta a matsayin wani bangare na ayyukan da aka tsara. Jerin ya hada da sunan kowane birni da aka yiwa aiki, sunan kasar, da kuma sunan filin jirgin saman da aka yi amfani da shi tare da dukkan kamfanonin hadaka na Jirgin Sama na Kasa da Kasa masu lamba uku ( lambar filin jirgin sama na IATA ) da Kungiyar Harakokin Jirgin Sama ta Duniya mai lamba hudu