The management of Arik Air has vowed to challenge the takeover of the airline by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which obtained a court order to take over the operations of the airline.
This was disclosed by the deputy managing director of Arik Air, captain Ado Sanusi at the airline’s headquarters in Lagos during a media briefing my the AMCON receiver manager and his team and the management of the airline, Thursday.
Sanusi said Arik has agreed to comply with the court order directing AMCON to take over the management of the airline, but that the airline would challenge the decision to the highest court of law in the land.
He said the airline might disagree with the court order, but has agreed to the takeover so that the airline operations would not be paralysed.
“We were served with the court order this morning, Arik Air will comply with the order. The airline has the right to challenge the order and will challenge the court order. We might disagree on certain issues, but we have agreed that Air Air operations should continue and not be paralysed. We will make our position known to our various stakeholders and partners, we will challenge this order to the highest level”.
Speaking earlier, the receiver manager, Mr. Oluseye Opasanya, SAN stated that the management of AMCON having consulted widely with the government authorities has decided to appoint him the receiver manager to superintendent over the affairs of Arik Air to sustain, and improve its services.
He said AMCON would ensure that it supports the airline with people of great knowledge and experience to improve the fortunes of the airline.
Opasanya said he has addressed the workers earlier on the new development and the need to keep the airline flying and relevant to the industry as there are many Nigerians under employment of Arik Air.
He said Arik Air plays a pivotal role in the airline industry in the country.
The receiver manager noted that AMCON is willing to support the operations of Arik Air together with the support of the government to meet the essential needs of the company.
He said AMCON would reach-out to other creditors of the airline, both foreign and local in order to secure their co-operation and commitment.
Opasanya said the mission now is not to talk about the airline’s huge indebtedness, as the airline owed huge sums of money, but how to rescue the airline from total collapse.
“The mission is to stabilize Arik operations. Customers of the airline have been suffering. We just want to sustain the operations. Arik is a ntional pride. This is a rescue mission,” he said.
Speaking also, Capt. Roy Ukpebo Ilegbodu, the technical consultant to the receiver manager stated that their mission in Arik Air was to bring efficiency to the airline.
He said there are lots of work to be done to stabilise Arik Air, to ensure safety and bring flight operations of the airline to normal.
