Arik Air shareholders blame AMCON for discontinued flights to U.S.

Arik Air shareholders have blamed the delisting of Nigeria from the countries holding United States of America’s Federal Aviation Administration (USFAA) Category 1 certification on inactivity of indigenous operators on the American route.

According to the stakeholders, this was aggravated by forceful takeover of the airline as well as its discontinuation of long-haul flights by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

The shareholders lamented that AMCON’s stopping the airline from operating on the Lagos/New York/JFK route since February 9, 2017, has not gone well for the aviation sector.

The investors in Arik Air explained that flight into the United States was initially operated on behalf of the airline by Hi Fly of Portugal to meet the Part 129 requirement for operators from Nigeria at the time.

They stated further that the carrier made direct investments of over $12 million in engaging a consultant, SH&E from the U.S., to develop manuals, procedures, supervise, and facilitate implementation of the Category 1 certification process.

The consultant, they said, also assisted the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Arik Air to train professionals to achieve the USFAA Cat 1 certification for Nigeria and airline operators in Nigeria between 2009 and 2010.

They added that after Nigeria obtained the Cat 1 status and Arik Air got its Part 129 certification, the carrier took over the Lagos/New York/Lagos operations with its Nigerian registered aircraft and crew and operated for over six years before AMCON “forcefully” took over the airline.

The shareholders said in a statement: “It should be noted Arik Air invested in the rigorous and painstaking audit and certification programmes that resulted in the Cat 1 certification for Nigeria and Nigerian air operators in collaboration with NCAA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Ministry of Aviation and Arik Air between 2009 and 2010.

“Flight safety and operations professionals of Arik Air, NCAA and FAAN were trained and certified by USFAA; this is in addition to their respective NCAA certifications. Also, check-in, boarding, and security of Nigerian main airports (Lagos/Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt) related operation support for airlines were enhanced, as recommended by the consultant and approved by FAA…’’