Aero Contractors stop operating passenger flights

The suspension of flight operations has been announced by Aero Contractors, the country’s oldest airline.  This was caused by the difficult operational environment, the airline claimed in a statement.

[keypoints]

• Aero Contractors to seize operation
• The decision was taken due to the fact that most of their aircraft are currently undergoing maintenance
• Expressed that their short absence will not create any major void in the market

[/keypoints]

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The airline, which had been in business for 61 years, would cease operations.

The management of Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Ltd. announced the temporary suspension of its scheduled passenger service operations with effect from Wednesday, July 20, 2022. This is due to the impact of the difficult operating environment on our daily operations.

The approved training organization (ATO), also known as Aero Training School, the approved maintenance organization (AMO), also known as AeroMRO, and the helicopter and charter services operations, are unaffected in any manner by this.

[quotation name=’Aero Contractors’]”This decision was carefully considered and taken due to the fact that most of our aircraft is currently undergoing maintenance, resulting in our inability to offer a seamless and efficient service to our esteemed customers. We are working to bring these aircraft back to service in the next few weeks, so we can continue to offer our passengers the safe, efficient, and reliable services that Aero Contractors is known for, which is the hallmark of Aero Contractors Company of Nig. Ltd.[/quotation]

It also mentioned how difficult the previous few months had been for the aviation sector in general and airline operators in particular due to the high cost of maintenance, rocketing fuel prices, inflation, and forex scarcity leading to high foreign exchange rates, adding that these are among the key elements of airline operations.

[quotation name=’Aero Contractors’]In the meantime, we are working assiduously to return to service as quickly as possible, and do assure our esteemed customers and stakeholders of our determination, that our short absence will not create any major void in the market, as we are coordinating with our business partners to ensure minimum discomfort to ticket holders.

“As members of Spring Alliance (a commercial alliance with member airlines providing mutual support in the area of operations), we are liaising with our partner airlines to minimise the impact on our esteemed customers. Our customer service team will be working to help affected esteemed customers reach their destinations. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to our esteemed customers and promise to return to service as soon as possible.[/quotation]

The airline’s fleet was reduced to two ageing aircraft—a Bombardier Dash 8-300 and a Boeing 737-500 in their early 30s—and was left completely without operational funds two months ago, which brought the airline to its knees and caused it to become moribund.

theGazetteNGR discovered that the airline’s dire circumstances were made worse by the high price of aviation fuel, whose price has continued to rise and endangers the operations of other local carriers.

The airline, which for many years supplied shuttle service to the oil and gas industry and began offering regular aircraft operations in 2000, was plagued by a debt overhang of about N50 billion.

Investigations by theGazetteNGR found that the airline’s financial drought was caused by a combination of the COVID-19 lockdown-induced recession and a protracted low season following December’s high passenger demand.

Prior to the management’s statement, the airline was having trouble refuelling its current fleet.

The management of the airline confirmed to newsmen two months ago that the airline was in a precarious situation, identified the contributing factors to the indigenous carrier’s deteriorating condition, and noted that the Aero could cease operations at any time because the management was finding it more and more difficult to maintain the aircraft in the airspace.

[quotation name=’Aero Contractors said months ago’]Maintenance cost is high, foreign exchange is not available and the high fuel price in addition to the fact that after the high Christmas season, there was low passenger traffic from later January till Easter period. Then we are also contending with overhead, which is so much. When you have no traffic and what you are generating cannot defray operating costs, you cannot survive. We are still operating but from the rate we are going we may shut down anytime.[/quotation]

The fleet’s older, more susceptible to failure aircraft had hefty maintenance costs, required the importation of spare parts, and even required foreign currency for aircraft insurance.

When Captain Ado Sanusi, the airline’s former CEO, took control in February 2017, Aero Contractors had faced the threat of failing a few years prior and had even stopped offering scheduled flights.

Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which was managing the airline that was in receivership, initially invested money in it. However, while this effort kept the airline afloat for a while, it was only fully revived when Sanusi rekindled and expanded its aircraft maintenance branch, which is the department that would continue to operate along with charter and training services after the shutdown of its flight schedule services.

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