Aero Contractors has announced that it would suspend passengers flights operations indefinitely from Wednesday, July 20.
In a statement issued on Monday, the airline’s management said the decision was a result of the challenging operating environment it faced daily.
The airline said the situation was made worse as some of its aircraft were undergoing maintenance and we’re unavailable for use.
“Due to the impact of the challenging operating environment on our daily operations, the management of Aero Contractors Company of Nig. Ltd. wishes to announce the temporary suspension of its scheduled passenger service operations with effect from Wednesday, July 20, 2022,” the airline said.
However, the airline said its decision does not affect its maintenance and training services, as well as helicopter and charter operations.
“The decision was carefully considered and taken due to the fact that most of our aircrafts are currently undergoing maintenance, resulting in our inability to offer a seamless and efficient service to our esteemed customers,” it said.
“We are working to bring these aircrafts 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,” the airline said.
According to the airline, the past few months have been very challenging for the aviation industry due to the high cost of maintenance, fuel, inflation and forex scarcity resulting in high foreign exchange rates, which are amongst the major components of airline operations.
As members of Spring Alliance — a commercial alliance with member airlines providing mutual support in the area of operations, the airline said it was liaising with partner airlines to minimize the impact on its esteemed customers and that its customer service team will be working to help affected customers reach their destinations.
In the meantime, Aero said, “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.”
The news comes days after Ibom Air said its passengers will experience flight delays in the coming weeks due to scarcity of aviation fuel and the closure of the domestic runway at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.
Domestic airline operators within the past three months have lamented about the sudden increase in aviation fuel and have threatened to halt operations repeatedly.
Airlines had earlier increased their flight base fare to N50,000 and above since February this year, with many Nigerians criticizing the move.