Arik Air cleared to resume operations

Arik Air, Nigeria’s major domestic airline whose fleet was grounded last week by the federal government over a legal dispute has been cleared to resume operations, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) disclosed on Thursday. This followed the resolution of the legal impasse by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo. Keyamo […]

Arik Air, Nigeria’s major domestic airline whose fleet was grounded last week by the federal government over a legal dispute has been cleared to resume operations, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) disclosed on Thursday.

This followed the resolution of the legal impasse by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo.

Keyamo had directed the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to ground three aircraft belonging to the airline following a Supreme Court judgement in favour of Atlas Petroleum Company where the three aircraft were attached as judgment debt.

Aviation unions had also called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu over the issue.

• Women affairs’ minister disrupts Abuja event, says Tinubu unhappy with it
• Nigerians angry because Tinubu is deceiving them – CDD Ex-Director

However, Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, said in a statement that Keyamo had “successfully overseen a resolution of the impasse between Arik Air and Atlas Petroleum.”

“Consequently, 2 of the 3 grounded Arik Air aircraft have been cleared by the NCAA to resume operations today,” he said.

NCAA stated that passengers scheduled to travel on Arik Air are already being checked-in at airport terminals across the country which clearly indicates that flights are resuming and operations are getting back to normal.

“The NCAA wishes to assure the public of its commitment to aviation safety, security and improved overall travel experience of passengers,” he added.