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Arik’s over $8 million trapped in Angola, Sierra Leone
*Carrier unfolds expansion plans at 10th anniversary
*Airlifts 19.5 million pax in 10 years
Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Arik said it has deployed diplomatic option to get its trapped $4.5 million of its funds trapped in Luanda, Angola just as there are indications that the carrier also has almost the same amount of money trapped in Sierra Leone.
Chairman of Arik Air, Sir Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide made the disclosure woleshadare.net on the side-lines of a press briefing on the 10th anniversary of the airline in Lagos, stressing that carrier has made moves to recover its money in those countries.
He however stated that he was optimistic that the monies would be released. He regretted that the trapped funds would have been more helpful to the carrier.
While Arik’s funds were trapped in those nations, just two months ago, airlines trapped funds in Nigeria was close to $600 million, but the government released $300 million to the carriers that have scaled down their operations while others outrightly stopped their services because of recession that have made people shun air travel
Other countries where airline funds are trapped are Venezuela; Sudan $360 million; Egypt $291 million and Angola $237 million.
The airline chief lamented the poor infrastructure at the airports, saying that decrepit facilities at the aerodromes have inhibited their operations.
pHe called on the Federal Government to fix the airports, runway and helping airlines with aviation fuel, otherwise known as JET A1.
Speaking to reporters, Executive Vice President of Arik Air, Chris Ndulue said that ten years of operations was not a mean feat considering the crises airlines are faced with, adding that the carrier started as a small airline in 2006.
“Today, we have 28 aircraft. From 2006 to 2016, we have airlifted 19.5 million passengers and with 2, 300 employees. Our future outlook is to have our footprint across Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.”
“To do this, additional airplanes are required about 50 in year 2025 including long and medium range planes.”
Ndulue further stated that the last one year has been very challenging for them and many airlines in the country, occasioned by scarcity of foreign exchange to purchase spare parts and other logistics. He hinted that a lot of their expenditure is dollarised.
He was piqued that while international airlines are already enjoying the benefits of fallen oil prices, Nigerian carriers are yet to do so, as aviation fuel price in Nigeria has gone up by 100 per cent from N120 per litre to N220 per litre and more in stations outside Lagos.
From 2010 until mid-2014, world oil prices had been fairly stable, at around $110 a barrel. But since June 2015, prices have more than halved. Brent crude oil has dipped below $50 a barrel.
Ndulue admitted that expansion has slowed down because of recession, but would look outward for assistance in its expansion drive, saying, “We are looking at some other options. The recession is not going to last more than a year if we everything goes well.”
Given Arik’s dominant position in the aviation market today, along with current and future planned capacity, Ndulue said the company has the capacity to take full advantage of the expected passenger traffic growth forecast for the region.
“In the coming years, we hope to main our market leadership and our growth strategy involves substantially increasing our fleet from 28 aircraft today to 52 aircraft by 2025. Our route development, we are also looking at starting new routes and will update our customers with details in the New Year.”
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