diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3018b3a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.tmp/
diff --git a/.tmp b/.tmp
index b4c86e26..40b0361a 120000
--- a/.tmp
+++ b/.tmp
@@ -1 +1 @@
-/nix/store/5ixvasljzz7fixv2nd28c8d6bsnam3ap-nixos-system-nixos-21.03.20201227.2f47650
\ No newline at end of file
+/nix/store/r2p2qi63zznjdf0gjif7v8qmsm5g72d7-nixos-system-nixos-21.03.20201227.2f47650
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index cd59532f..170ff892 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -35,7 +35,12 @@
             package = pkgs.neovim-nightly;
             colorschemes.gruvbox.enable = true;
 
-            plugins.lightline.enable = true;
+            options.number = true;
+
+            plugins.airline = {
+              enable = true;
+              powerline = true;
+            };
           };
         })
       ];
diff --git a/nixvim.nix b/nixvim.nix
index e37dfe28..bba63534 100644
--- a/nixvim.nix
+++ b/nixvim.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ let
       };
     };
   };
+
+  helpers = import ./plugins/helpers.nix { lib = lib; };
 in
 {
   options = {
@@ -60,6 +62,18 @@ in
         type = types.attrsOf types.anything;
         default = { };
       };
+
+      options = mkOption {
+        type = types.attrsOf types.anything;
+        default = { };
+        description = "The configuration options, e.g. line numbers";
+      };
+
+      globals = mkOption {
+        type = types.attrsOf types.anything;
+        default = {};
+        description = "Global variables";
+      };
     };
   };
 
@@ -85,7 +99,11 @@ in
     environment.systemPackages = [ wrappedNeovim ];
     programs.nixvim = {
       configure = {
-        customRC = cfg.extraConfigVim + (optionalString (cfg.colorscheme != "") ''
+        customRC = ''
+          lua <<EOF
+          ${cfg.extraConfigLua}
+          EOF
+        '' + cfg.extraConfigVim + (optionalString (cfg.colorscheme != "") ''
 
           colorscheme ${cfg.colorscheme}
         '');
@@ -98,6 +116,34 @@ in
               cfg.extraPlugins);
         };
       };
+
+      extraConfigLua = optionalString (cfg.globals != {}) ''
+        -- Set up globals {{{
+        local __nixvim_globals = ${helpers.toLuaObject cfg.globals}
+
+        for k,v in pairs(__nixvim_globals) do
+          vim.g[k] = v
+        end
+        -- }}}
+      '' + optionalString (cfg.options != {}) ''
+        -- Set up options {{{
+        local __nixvim_options = ${helpers.toLuaObject cfg.options}
+
+        for k,v in pairs(__nixvim_options) do
+          -- Here we use the set command because, as of right now, neovim has
+          -- no equivalent using the lua API. You have to sort through the
+          -- options and know which options are local to what
+          if type(v) == "boolean" then
+            local no
+            if v then no = "" else no = "no" end
+
+            vim.cmd("set " .. no .. k)
+          else
+            vim.cmd("set " .. k .. "=" .. tostring(v))
+          end
+        end
+        -- }}}
+      '';
     };
 
     environment.etc."xdg/nvim/sysinit.vim".text = neovimConfig.neovimRcContent;
diff --git a/plugins/default.nix b/plugins/default.nix
index 3a4b1c4e..b7eb2551 100644
--- a/plugins/default.nix
+++ b/plugins/default.nix
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {
   imports = [
     ./statuslines/lightline.nix
+    ./statuslines/airline.nix
     ./colorschemes/gruvbox.nix
   ];
 }
diff --git a/plugins/helpers.nix b/plugins/helpers.nix
index 9cc2b725..b0dfcd43 100644
--- a/plugins/helpers.nix
+++ b/plugins/helpers.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ rec {
       "{" + (concatStringsSep ","
         (mapAttrsToList
           (n: v: "[${toLuaObject n}] = " + (toLuaObject v))
-        args)) + "}"
+        (filterAttrs (n: v: !isNull v || v == {}) args))) + "}"
     else if builtins.isList args then
       "{" + concatMapStringsSep "," toLuaObject args + "}"
     else if builtins.isString args then
diff --git a/plugins/statuslines/airline.nix b/plugins/statuslines/airline.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f58b75e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/statuslines/airline.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+{ pkgs, config, lib, ... }:
+with lib;
+let
+  cfg = config.programs.nixvim.plugins.airline;
+  helpers = import ../helpers.nix { inherit lib; };
+
+  sectionType = with types; nullOr (oneOf [ str (listOf str)]);
+  sectionOption = mkOption {
+    default = null;
+    type = sectionType;
+    description = "Configuration for this section. Can be either a statusline-format string or a list of modules to be passed to airline#section#create_*.";
+  };
+in {
+  options = {
+    programs.nixvim.plugins.airline = {
+      enable = mkEnableOption "Enable airline";
+
+      extensions = mkOption {
+        default = null;
+        type = with types; nullOr attrs;
+        description = "A list of extensions and their configuration";
+      };
+
+      onTop = mkOption {
+        default = false;
+        type = types.bool;
+        description = "Whether to show the statusline on the top instead of the bottom";
+      };
+
+      sections = mkOption {
+        default = null;
+        type = with types; nullOr (submodule {
+          options = {
+            a = sectionOption;
+            b = sectionOption;
+            c = sectionOption;
+            x = sectionOption;
+            y = sectionOption;
+            z = sectionOption;
+          };
+        });
+      };
+
+      powerline = mkOption {
+        default = null;
+        type = with types; nullOr bool;
+        description = "Whether to use powerline symbols";
+      };
+
+      theme = mkOption {
+        default = config.programs.nixvim.colorscheme;
+        type = with types; nullOr str;
+        description = "The theme to use for vim-airline. If set, vim-airline-themes will be installed.";
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  config = let
+    sections = {};
+  in mkIf cfg.enable {
+    programs.nixvim = {
+      extraPlugins = with pkgs.vimPlugins; [
+        vim-airline
+      ] ++ optional (!isNull cfg.theme) vim-airline-themes;
+      globals = {
+        airline.extensions = cfg.extensions;
+
+        airline_statusline_ontop = mkIf cfg.onTop 1;
+        airline_powerline_fonts = mkIf (cfg.powerline) 1;
+
+        airline_theme = mkIf (!isNull cfg.theme) cfg.theme;
+      } // sections;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/plugins/statuslines/lightline.nix b/plugins/statuslines/lightline.nix
index 01a160d9..225dfea8 100644
--- a/plugins/statuslines/lightline.nix
+++ b/plugins/statuslines/lightline.nix
@@ -71,29 +71,17 @@ in {
         description = "Mode name mappings";
         default = null;
       };
-
-      extraConfig = mkOption {
-        type = types.lines;
-        default = "";
-        description = "Extra configuration for this plugin";
-      };
     };
   };
 
   config = let
-    configString = helpers.toVimDict {
+    configAttrs = {
       inherit (cfg) colorscheme active component componentFunction modeMap;
     };
   in mkIf cfg.enable {
     programs.nixvim = {
       extraPlugins = [ pkgs.vimPlugins.lightline-vim ];
-      extraConfigVim = ''
-        """ lightline {{{
-        let g:lightline = ${configString}
-
-        ${cfg.extraConfig}
-        """ }}}
-      '';
+      globals.lightline = configAttrs;
     };
   };
 }
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d4a0b939
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+# Creates a container and then runs the resulting neovim executable with the configuration
+set -e
+
+sudo nixos-container destroy nvim-test
+sudo nixos-container create nvim-test --flake .
+
+.tmp/sw/bin/nvim -u .tmp/etc/xdg/nvim/sysinit.vim .tmp/etc/xdg/nvim/sysinit.vim