Nigeria’s oldest airline, Aero Contractors said it has concluded plans to resume flight operations on Wednesday.
The airline which stopped schedule services on September 1, 2016 due to lack of operational funds and the inability to pay for maintenance costs of its aircraft taken out for checks, said it would resume small.
It plans to kick off operation with two Boeing B737-500, one Bombardier Dash 8-300 but within one week would deploy two Bombardier Dash 8-300 for a total fleet of five aircraft.
The airline is resuming operation at a time the domestic market is experiencing paucity of aircraft as many aircraft have been grounded for maintenance so airlines are not meeting passenger demand and this is characterised by flight cancelations and delays, exacerbated by inadequate supply of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, with the present pricing as high as N240 per litre.
Informed source from the airline told THISDAY that labour issues, which delayed the resumption of the airline had been resolved and the condition given by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) that the company must restructure, is being met.
This means that Aero will lay off some workers, a plan that has received tacit agreement with the labour and, according to the source; the airline over time would bring back all its aircraft, which are about six Boeing B737-500 and three turbo props, Dash 8-300.
“We plan to resume on Wednesday but it is work in progress. We intend to start small. We already have two Boeing B737-500. We have one Dash 8 on ground but we hope to get two more within days. We have resolved issues with the unions. We are going to bring back all our airplanes back over time.
“We have agreed to restructure, which is the condition given by AMCON”, the source said.
THISDAY
