The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has confirmed the re-appointment of Capt. Ado Sanusi is the new managing director of Aero Contractors, one of the two airlines under its receivership.
AMCON, in a statement by its media consultant, said that the corporation reappointed Sanusi to Aero Contractors following its failure to secure the necessary Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA) for its startup airline, NG Eagle.
Nairametrics reported last week that Sanusi had been reappointed to Aero Contractors by AMCON and was scheduled to resume on Monday.
Sanusi was first appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Aero Contractors in March 2017 but was redeployed to NG Eagle as its incumbent managing director on January 1, 2021.
He was replaced at Aero by Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood who was the chief pilot officer at Arik Air. Prior to his appointment in 2017, Sanusi was the vice president at Arik Air.
AMCON, in a statement, regretted that it was unable to set up the new airline due to the lingering issue connected with securing AOC and the failure of the airline to take off.
The statement added: “Aero contractors has been in receivership under AMCON since 2016, and is undergoing restructuring with an expectation of returning to schedule services in the very near future.”
Responding to the appointment, Sanusi said he was pleased to return to Aero Contractors to continue the job of repositioning the airline.
Sanusi emphasised that the new management needed to do a lot to make the airline, which suspended flight operations about three months ago, to be stronger.
He lauded Mahmood who has now returned to his former position at Arik Air “for the wonderful job he has done in holding the fort.
“A lot needs to be done to make the airline stronger to be able to face future challenges. I look forward to the support of the staff and management of the airline, including other stakeholders to make the airline great once again.”
Suspension of Operation
Aero Contractors suspended operations indefinitely on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, due to the “challenging operating environment it faced daily.”
The airline said the situation was made worse as some of its aircraft were undergoing maintenance and unavailable for use.
However, the airline said its decision does not affect its maintenance and training services, as well as helicopter and charter operations.
“The 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,” it said.
“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,” the airline said.
According to the airline, the past few months had been very challenging for the aviation industry due to the high cost of maintenance, fuel, inflation, and forex scarcity resulting in high foreign exchange rates, which are among the major components of airline operations.
As members of Spring Alliance— a commercial alliance with member airlines providing mutual support in the area of operations, the airline said it was liaising with partner airlines to minimize the impact on its esteemed customers and that its customer service team will be working to help affected customers reach their destinations.
