Due to the massive debts owed by Arik Air and Aero Contractors, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has indicated that they may be amalgamated and converted into a national carrier.<\/p>\n
Gbenga Alade, AMCON’s Managing Director\/Chief Executive Officer, disclosed this information at a meeting with media executives in Lagos on Monday.<\/p>\n
He explained that both airlines had accrued so much debt that they may be unable to repay it.<\/p>\n
Alade stated that the proposal of combining Arik and Aero Contractors into a national carrier was suggested to a prior aviation minister, but it was not approved.<\/p>\n
He stated, “The former management of AMCON presented the idea of converting Arik and Aero into a national carrier.”<\/p>\n
However, the former aviation minister rejected the notion. We’ll present it again since it’s the finest choice.”<\/p>\n
He went on to say that the previous AMCON administration established a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to help these airlines transition into national carriers, but it was later sold off.<\/p>\n
However, he feels they can set up another SPV for this reason.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, the special purpose vehicle created by AMCON’s prior management to convert Arik and Aero into a national carrier has been sold. “But we can set up another SPV for this,” he continued.<\/p>\n
Alade stated his concern about the current state of Arik and Aero Contractors, claiming that it has caused him great stress.<\/p>\n
“Believe me, it is a difficult problem to tackle, and it is causing me sleepless nights, especially Arik. “Arik owes so much that they can’t pay,” he explained.<\/p>\n
He also highlighted potential alternatives, mentioning that they had been in contact with Arik’s major international creditors, notably Afreximbank, to find a way out.<\/p>\n
Arik owes Afreximbank approximately $52 million, but following discussions, the airline agreed to pay only $8.5 million of that amount.<\/p>\n
“However, where will the $8.5 million come from? Where? AMCON does not have its own money to invest there,” he stated.<\/p>\n
Alade revealed that during the negotiations, there was a proposition to take away some of Arik’s engines as a final debt settlement.<\/p>\n
However, he was opposed to the plan since it would cripple the airline. “And the truth is that if they remove those engines, Arik is done.<\/p>\n
But we answered, “No, you cannot take it away.” “Let AMCON provide you with a bank guarantee,” he stated.<\/p>\n
Alade continued by stating that AMCON is working hard to keep Arik functioning, with the goal of having three planes flying right now and maybe seven by February next year.<\/p>\n
“We will stretch it so that three planes are flying now and by the Lord’s grace, by February next year, we want to make seven planes fly for Arik,” according to him.<\/p>\n
Recall that on August 8, the Federal Government removed the suspension of Arik Air’s activities, a week after its jets were grounded owing to a dispute with Atlas Petroleum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Due to the massive debts owed by Arik Air and Aero Contractors, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has indicated that they may be amalgamated and converted into a national carrier. Gbenga Alade, AMCON’s Managing Director\/Chief Executive Officer, disclosed this information at a meeting with media executives in Lagos on Monday. He explained that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[1416,856,1415,59],"class_list":["post-45681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-aero","tag-amcon","tag-arik","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45681"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45687,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45681\/revisions\/45687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}