Arik, Aero Contractors may be converted to national carriers by FG

Arik and Aero Contractors airlines may be merged and converted to a national carrier, the Asset Management and Corporation of Nigeria has disclosed.

Stating this on Monday at an interactive session with media executives in Lagos, the AMCON Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Alade, revealed that both Arik and Aero Contractor are owing so much money that they may not be able to pay.

In his words, “The former management of AMCON presented the idea of converting Arik and Aero to a national carrier. But the former aviation minister did not buy the idea. We will present it again because that is the best option.

“Unfortunately, the special purpose vehicle that was created by the former management of AMCON for the conversion of Arik and Aero to a national carrier had been sold. But we can create another SPV this.”

Just three days before the end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the Nigeria Air was commissioned by the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, launched, with the ownership arrangement eliciting concerns among stakeholders regarding Ethiopian Airlines a 49 per cent equity stake in the company.

The Federal Government had a 5 per cent equity, while a consortium of three Nigerian investors had 46 per cent.

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The House of Representatives, while reacting to the deal in June 2023, asked the Federal Government to suspend the operations of Nigeria Air, describing it as a fraud.

In August 2023, the incumbent minister, Festus Keyamo announced that the national carrier project was suspended till further notice.

Keyamo said, “It remains suspended. It was never Air Nigeria. It was not Air Nigeria. That’s the truth. It was only painted Nigeria Air. It was Ethiopian Airlines trying to flag our flag.

“If it is so, why not allow our local plane to fly our flag? So nobody should dispute that it was Nigeria Air.

“Air Nigeria must be indigenous, must be wholly Nigerian, and must be for the full benefits of Nigeria, not that 50 per cent of the profit is for another country.”