CEO, Onedot Aviation, Henry Oludotun Ogunyemi, says Nigeria will save N3 billion annually if airlines in the country carry out heavy maintenance on their aircraft locally, as Onedot had been given approval to carry out heavy maintenance on some category of aircraft. Ogunyemi made this known while speaking on the effect of government and private sector’s inability to establish a maintenance hangar to take care of the heavy maintenance needs on aircraft locally. This development is coming at a time airlines in Nigeria are finding it extremely difficult to source dollars for the maintenance of their aircraft.
The airlines’ maintenance challenge is further compounded by the foreign exchange rate to carry out major checks such as C- and D-Checks on their airplanes.
He said flying aircraft overseas for heavy maintenance like C-Checks on Boeing aircraft now had a far greater cost implication and the ripple effect causing major financial havoc for airlines, advising airlines to use local Maintain Repair and Overhaul (MROs) instead.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has given Onedot Aviation approval to carry out maintenance checks, both line and heavy, for Beechcraft, HS-125, Bombardier, among others, since 2014 and Boeing 737-200 Series and Boeing 737-300/400/500 series in June 2016, he said.
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