Aero Contractors has announced the temporary suspension of flights from Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
The airline, in a statement on Monday, said the temporary suspension would not in any way affect the maintenance activities of the Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO), otherwise known as Aero MRO, or the Approved Training Organisation (ATO), also known as Aero Training School; and its helicopter and charter services operations.
It explained that the shutdown was due to the fact that most of its aeroplanes were undergoing maintenance.
The statement read, “Due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on our daily operations, the management of Aero Contractors Company of Nig. Ltd. wishes to announce the temporary suspension of its scheduled passenger services operations with effect from Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
“This decision was carefully considered and taken due to the fact that most of our aircrafts are currently undergoing maintenance, resulting in our inability to offer a seamless and efficient service to our esteemed customers.
“We are working to bring these aircrafts 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.”
The airline lamented the harsh climate for air operators, who have been forced to contend with high maintenance costs, high cost of aviation fuel, inflation and forex scarcity, among other issues.
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It promised to return swiftly to operations, hoping to liaise with other partner airlines to reduce the impact on loyal customers.
The airline had on May 7, 2022 denied reports that it was planning to shut down flight operations.
The airline, reacting to a news publication that it would be going under after 61 years of operation, said the story in question was “highly speculative and misleading.”
It explained in a statement that the airline, like every other airline, had its fair share of challenges, which had been brought to the fore by the Association of Nigerian Airlines (AON).
“These include high cost of aviation fuel, high foreign exchange rate, high maintenance cost, inflation and low purchasing power of the travelling public following the increase of fares,” the statement had read.
Recalls that wo years ago, exactly on March 17, 2017, the airline had sacked 900 of its workers over its difficulty to pay salaries.
The airline’s media consultant, Simon Tumba, said in a statement that the airline had been grappling with paying the salaries of its workers and servicing its overhead cost, a situation he said was no longer sustainable for the airline.
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