Airline operators cry to Senate, say we are dying

Domestic airlines in the country are at risk of extinction, unless the federal government urgently pumps intervention funds into them, airline operators have said.

The operators stated this at an emergency interactive session with the Senate Committee of Aviation on Wednesday, adding that all domestic airlines operating in the country will die if government does not act fast.

The operators spoke through the Chief Executive Officer,  CEO, of Arik Airline, Mr. Chris Ndule, insisting that the economic state of the aviation industry had largely deteriorated.

“The economic situation as it is today, is suffocating us out of operation,” Ndule said.

According to him, aside Aero Contractors, other airlines would soon colapse without a prompt intervention by the government.

The Arik CEO cited high interest rate of 24 per cent on bank loans, worsening exchange rate and multiple charges from various regulatory agencies as some of the factors militating against sustenance of aviation business in Nigeria.

“There are a lot of economic indicators that have made business more difficult which are now manifesting in the inability of the airlines to continue to operate,” he said, explaining that the airlines were operating in an industry that had very little (profit) margin.

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“If you have to borrow money and you have to pay 24 per cent, and you don’t make a margin of 24 per cent, it means that you will find it very difficult to pay back the debt. And there is a limit to what you can do in terms of being able to manage the debt. These fundamentals are the things we need to address.

 

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