Arik to resume flight operations 11 a.m. today

The disruption of flights by Arik Air will be over by 11.a.m today. This is according to the airline’s spokesperson, Ola Adebanji.

“Arik Air, West and Central Africa’s largest airline, is pleased to announce that after a temporary disruption of flights on Tuesday, 13 September pending approval of aircraft documentation related to insurance renewal.

“It’s scheduled flights will resume as normal operations from 11 am , Wednesday September 14, 2016,” Adebanji said.

Arik Air, Nigeria’s biggest domestic airline, which also plies international routes, technically suspended operations yesterday, after insurance on its airplanes expired, and experts say this is one more signal that the country’s aviation industry is in deep trouble, even on the brink of collapse.
According to the airline’s management, “Arik Air, West and Central Africa’s largest airline has alerted all air travelers of a temporary disruption to its operations, pending approval of aircraft documentation related to insurance renewal.”
Other red flags signalling the dire state of  Nigeria’s aviation sector include the grounding of  Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s oldest existing airline, by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on September1, for having only one aircaraft, contrary to the the NCAA’s regulations.  Another domestic airline , First Nation, was likewise grounded, one day after Aero, and for the same reason.
Industy watchers say many of the country’s domestic airlines have aircraft stranded abroad where they were sent for maintenace because of difficulty in  raising funds, as a result of the huge drop in the value of the naira against the dollar- which is the medium of payment.
Meanwhile, the country has virtually no functional repair hangars and operators must necessarily send their aircraft abroad  for checks and repairs designated ‘Ato D’.
Experts list the challenges of domestic airlines as including  funding, cost and access to foreign exchange , the impact of  the economic downturn, unfriendly regulation, cost of aviation fuel, as well as poor and non existent infrastructure.
They further  say that if the harsh economic situation continues, more airlines may go under causing many more  job losses.
The state of the country’s aviation industry is further highlighted by the recent spate of  power outages at the Murtala Muhammed Airport , Nigeria’s biggest and busiest airport and international gateway. The most recent  power outage at the airport ocurred last Monday and lasted for several hours, leaving passengers and aviation workers anxious and fearful in pitch darkness.
Furthermore, international airlines are cutting down frequencies into Nigeria as a result of the economic downturn and the high exchange rate.
BusinessDay’s checks show that British Airways which formerlly deployed a Boeing 747  jumbo jet with a capacity of about 420 passengers,  readjusted to the Boeing 777, which has a capacity of about 300passengers.
Also, Virgin Atlantic which flew the Airbus A340-600, with a capacity of 400 passengers, is now flying the  Airbus A330-200, with 250passenger  capacity .