The new management of Arik Air has announced that the airline has suspended flights to London and Lagos.
In a statement made available by the media consultant of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Simon Tumba, the airline said it has the intention to stop all international flights “to enable us find permanent solution facing our passengers as it will enable us to carry out a thorough assessment of the situation.”
“The strategic business decision is meant to realign our operations and refocus on satisfying our domestic and West Africa and other international passengers. It will also present Arik with excellent opportunity to engage and discuss with creditors who have become restive since the intervention and have also understandably exhausted their patience due to non-payment of accumulated debt and non-performance on services and contracts,” the airline said.
The statement said arrangements are being made to refund all international passengers of the airline that are affected by this decision.
“To our international creditors, Arik is most grateful for your patience and understanding. We reassure them that all pending issues with the airline will be duly addressed as a matter of priority as we plan to engage them in this regard,” the airline said.
It noted that international route is very critical for the strategic turn around, growth strategy and stability of the airline.
“Therefore, we intend to revisit the routes immediately we address all the problems inherited, which is affecting and creating more dissatisfied passenger base. We appeal to all passengers to kindly bear with us as the decision is to ensure that the airline adheres strictly to international aviation best practices,” the airline also said.
