The update comes hours after the airline -whose fleet of 28 aircrafts touches 18 airports across the country- announced an indefinite suspension of operations, causing a panic amongst thousands returning to their bases after the Sallah holidays.
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Consequently, hundreds of domestic passengers were stranded all over the country, following the airline’s inability to airlift them to their destinations.
The report disclosed that Spain’s Iberia and United Airlines cancelled their Nigeria services earlier this year, and two local carriers also halted operations, while other global airlines responded by boosting ticket prices within Nigeria, charging its globe-trotting elite as much as $2,000 for an economy class ticket to Europe to cut losses – more than double the cost of a Lagos ticket bought overseas.
“The economy is crying out for investment, and now it is going to be even harder for anyone to visit”, said John Ashbourne, economist with Capital Economics.
The report further stated that Arik purportedly owes N3 billion in insurance and has also found it impossible to pay suppliers for aviation fuel.
One of Nigeria’s flag carriers, Arik Air, on Tuesday announced a temporary disruption to its flight operations owing to its aircraft insurance renewal.
Arik Air (W3, Lagos) has tentatively cancelled all flights for Tuesday, September 13 after it was forced to switch insurance providers at the last moment.
“This situation is likely to continue for the next few days until such time that NAICOM (National Insurance Commission) approves a waiver on a priority basis for the new insurance company to renew the policy”, a statement said.
Arik, which flies to London, New York and Johannesburg, said it was “working around the clock” to resume operations.
Passengers are also advised to check with the airline regarding the status of their flights before proceeding to the airport, a statement by the airline added.
“The Group CEO has apologised and appealed (on behalf of the airline) for the understanding of passengers while it works diligently to resume normal operations at the earliest”.
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Recall that Arik Air isn’t the first airline to shut down flight operations in Nigeria, both Aero Contractors and FirstNation had earlier suspended operations some three weeks ago.
