Barely five days after it was taken over by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Arik Air Nigeria has suspended its international flight operations to enable it find permanent solution to some hurdles.
A statement by the airline’s management states that the strategic business decision is meant to realign the operations and refocus on satisfying the domestic, West African and other international passengers.
The statement added that suspension would also present Arik with excellent opportunity to engage and discuss with creditors, who have become restive since the intervention and have also understandably exhausted their patience due to non-payment of accumulated debt and non-performance on services and contracts.
It read, “Consequent upon this, arrangements are being made to refund all international passengers of the airline that are affected by this decision.
“To our international creditors, Arik is most grateful for your patience and understanding. We reassure them that all pending issues with the airline will be duly addressed as a matter of priority as we plan to engage them in this regard.”
Arik Air explained that the international route was very critical for the strategic turn around, growth strategy and stability of the airline.
As a result, it said that it intended to revisit the routes immediately it addresses all the problems inherited, which is affecting and creating more dissatisfied passenger base.
The new management appealed to all passengers to kindly bear with the decision in order to ensure that the airline adhered strictly to international aviation best practices.
