Aero Contractors suspends scheduled services over cost

Sade Williams/Business a.m.

Nigeria’s oldest airline, Aero Contractors, on Monday said it would suspend its scheduled passenger flight services temporarily beginning from Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

The airline said the suspension is “due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on our daily operations”.

It added, however, that this does not in any way affect the maintenance activities of its Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO), otherwise known as AeroMRO, the Approved Training Organisation (ATO), also known as Aero Training School, and the Helicopter and Charter Services operations.

The airline said the decision was carefully considered and taken because most of it’s aircraft are undergoing maintenance, resulting in its inability to offer a seamless and efficient service to its customers.

“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,” Aero said in a statement.

It said the aviation industry and the airline operators in particular have experienced challenging time in the past few months, especially with the rise in the cost of major components of airline operations such as maintenance and fuel, as well as the high rate of inflation and forex scarcity.

“In the meantime, we are working assiduously to return to service as quickly as possible, and do assure our esteemed customers and stakeholders of our determination, that our short absence will not create any major void in the market, as we are coordinating with our business partners to ensure minimum discomfort to ticket holders,” Aero said.

“As members of Spring Alliance (a commercial alliance with member airlines providing mutual support in the area of operations), we are liaising with our partner airlines to minimise the impact on our esteemed customers. Our customer service team will be working to help affected esteemed customers reach their destinations,” it said.

Aero apologised to its customers for any inconvenience caused by the decision and reiterated its promise to return to service as soon as possible.