Today,Aero Contractors, one of Nigeria’s oldest commercial airline involved in domestic and regional transport business, may suspend its flight operations following accumulated debts of about $200m.
The airline, which has been in regular negotiations with its banker (Oceanic Bank Plc) for about six months, disclosed that it has now reached a point where it is difficult for the carrier to operate on the terms of discussions with the financial institution.
“Though flight services might be affected if this continues, Aero is still flying and operations are still on,” said a reliable source at the carrier on Tuesday in Lagos.
Meanwhile, the airline in a statement “regrettably” disclosed that the unilateral decision taken by the bank on the morning of April 23, have effectively prevented the carrier from paying its suppliers and lessors, including Canadian Helicopter Company (CHC).
“The dilemma centres on the allocation of historical debt. The management teams at Oceanic Bank and Aero have been in constant dialogue about this matter for the previous six months. However, they have been unable to agree on a resolution that will allow Aero to continue trading as a going concern,” said the carrier in a statement.
The carrier, however, disclosed that it has approached Nigeria’s minister of aviation, Fidelia Njeze; the National Security Adviser, Aliyu Mohammed; and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Harold Demuren, in the belief that they will intervene as an arbitrating party between Aero and Oceanic.
Commenting on the development, the airline’s chief executive officer, Shaf Syed, disclosed that the carrier is poised to set itself on a better pedestal, regardless of the thorny condition.
“Despite the difficult situation that Aero finds itself in today, I am sure the strategic importance of Aero Contractors to the national economy will be appreciated and good sense will prevail all around,” he said.
“We have every confidence that Aero will be able to set itself on a good platform and we look forward to a bright future, serving a third of the Nigerian Oil & Gas industry and 1.5 million passengers each year.”
It would be recalled that Aero Contractors commenced the online sales of reduced promotional airfares varying from N7,000 to N3,000 across all domestic routes, which it covers for one way trips.
The airline, which is notable for the introduction of online check-in of passengers, recently introduced an advanced pricing strategy and price optimisation application called Aviator, which has a capacity of making available 26 different types of fare on every flight for passengers.
