The Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi was the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), where he made his marks, he was also a former Deputy Managing Director of Arik Air.
Capt. Ado Sanusi emerged the Balofon Aviation Man of the Year in West Africa at the just concluded Accra Weizo for transforming the fortunes of Aero Contractors from a struggling airline to a growing concern through the establishment of a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Lagos which is capable of handling the maintenance of aircraft in West, Central Africa and beyond.
Sanusi spoke to Franklin Ihejirika in Accra, Ghana on the latest development on the MRO, national carrier, removal of VAT for aviation industry, award as the Balofon Aviation Man of the Year in West Africa among others.
Excerpts
What does this award as the Balofon Aviation Man of the Year in West Africa mean to you?
I have been humbled by this award, I thank the tourism sector for identifying our effort in building aviation industry in West and Central Africa. I dedicate the award to the hard working members of Aero Contractors, the staff believe in me, in the dream we have in making West Africa a hub of aviation.
What is the latest development on your Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, MRO
We are happy to say that the MRO has been developing, we have opened our doors to everybody. We are getting customers in Nigeria, West Africa, we have gotten Ghana Civil Aviation to recognise us and give us certification, we are working with Congo, Cameroon to get the certification.
So we want to serve the West and Central African communities in the aviation sector.
The lifeline of Aero is the MRO because the MRO is a business that was neglected and now we have revived it and want to bring it back to limelight to serve. Fortunately for Aero Contractors, there is a lack of formidable MRO in the region, so we are just filling that gap and by so doing we are just creating business for us and also creating jobs for the region.
What is your position on the planned new National Carrier?
You know every country in the world will like to have a National Carrier, so I support the national carrier for all the countries that are looking for National Carriers. But what I want to say is with aution that yes we want to have a National Carrier, we want to establish a formidable carrier that will serve our people and the tourism industry, but we must learn from our past mistakes. So, establishing a National Carrier will bring more jobs to me because definitely they are not establishing a national MRO.
So I will definitely have an opportunity as an MRO to serve the National Carrier.
What is your take on the position of AON that the idea of using Tax Payers money to float a “National Carrier” in 2018 is not only counterproductive, but inimical to the overall interests of the present corps of private entrepreneurs?
In every industry where you have a regulator and the industry is well regulated, you need to have a fair level ground, a fair environment, so I believe what Air Operators of Nigeria, AON is just asking is that the National Carrier that is coming should be allowed to compete favourably with them, and I think that is fair and I don’t think the government is going to unduly give the national carrier some advantage. I think it will allow the National Carrier to grow as a business, the moment you don’t allow it to grow as a business, then it might not be sustainable and that is the truth and that is why Ethiopian Airlines is sustainable because they allowed it to grow as a sustainable business. And if you allow a business to grow as a sustainable business, you must allow it to compete with its peers so that it can now get immunisation of competition.
What do you expect from Aero and its MRO in the next five years
I expect Aero to be a formidable name in West and Central Africa for Maintenance Repair and Overhaul, I also expect Aero to bounce back as an airline, I also expect Aero in the next five years to be a dominant factor in the oil and gas industry, so that are my expectations for Aero.
When are you going to be independent of AMCON
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON has a plan to divest their shares in Aero Contractors and I think they have been doing that with more investors and that is what they want and that will be done very soon.
Are you getting any preferential treatment than other domestic airlines as a government run carrier?
No, no, we don’t get any preferential treatment and we are not government protected airline, we are just under receivership and the law under receivership protects you from other creditors, that is what it does and after that, you are not protected from any other thing.
What is your response on the removal of VAT from the aviation industry by the federal government?
The removal of Value Added Tax, VAT in the aviation industry by the federal government is a welcome thing and we love it, off course AON has been canvassing for that. I think it will help the industry in easing the taxes levied on it
