Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the receiver manager of Arik Air, says the airline has increased fleet size from six operational aircraft to 15, and increased number of passengers from 1,400 to 5,000 daily.
Speaking at a training forum organised on Wednesday for its travel agents in Lagos, Roy Ilegbodu, CEO of Arik Air, said since AMCON took over management of the airline it had been able to stabilise its operations and had resuscitated its current operational aircraft.
“We are currently on 15 aircraft now. That we have 15 does not mean that they all operate at the same time. The plane is always going for maintenance that is why we run between 10 and 12 at any point in time,” Ilegbodu said.
The CEO, who was represented by Omokide Kamilu, the chief commercial officer and head receivership support of AMCOM, said many Nigerians want the airline to open international routes but it had chosen to plan probably to avoid getting its hands burnt in the process.
“One of the things we realise is that you should not go into international route without proper planning and that it should be well resourced and possible; we should get your partnerships right before going to international routes.
“If we must go to international routes, it has to be with the right aircraft in terms of fuel efficiency, seat capacity and fall back so that when a planes are down for Aircraft on Ground (AOG), there is a support system which enables you recover your service quickly.
“If we don’t have all of these things well arranged and go to the international route, we will burn our fingers. To this extent, going to the international route is a decision to be carefully made,” he said.
On plans to acquire aircraft for short haul operations, Kamilu said AMCON was not getting into aviation business, as its job in Arik was to first stabilise the airline so it could be in a position to repay its loans.
“We see ourselves as enablers. The aviation industry is important to the Nigerian economy and Arik and Aero are big that is why you see a lot of direct AMCON interests in those countries, otherwise, we wouldn’t be. Our job is to recover our money and in doing that we also want Nigerian people to get some benefits by stabilising the airline,” he said.
Is it possible to build Arik in a way that it can begin to offset the loans instead of waiting for a buyer?
Speaking on possibility to offset the loans, Kamilu said it was possible, depending on the circumstances.
According to Kamilu, “AMCON did not just jump into Arik. We bought these loans in 2011 and 2012 and after buying the loans, we gave Arik N20billion, additional landing to help them rejuvenate. So, talking about putting Arik in a position to pay its debt, we did that several years before we decided to appoint a receiver manager to intervene. So where we are now is a different recovery level.
“The initial recovery level was pursuing to build capacity and let them repay but where we are now is build capacity and exist. How you exist can take different forms and we have people in AMCON that are working on that.”
