The Airline Operator’s Certificate (AOC) of Air Nigeria, whose domestic operations the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) stopped over three months ago, has reportedly expired Thursday. This dims the hope of the airline returning as envisaged.
Although, Jimoh Ibrahim, chairman of the company, said it would come back twelve months after the voluntary grounding of all other operations, including regional and international, the expiration of the AOC makes it extremely difficult for the airline to return for operations until it goes through another round of fresh re-certification by the regulatory agency, NCAA.
Air Nigeria had announced the suspension of all its operations, local, regional and international, over three months ago.
The suspension, according to the management of the airline, “is largely due to staff disloyalty and environmental tension, which are not conducive for business in the aviation sector.”
Ibrahim said it was difficult to continue further investment in the airline, with the high level of staff disloyalty and weak business environment.
“But we are strongly committed to ensuring that Air Nigeria survives,” he added.
According to him, “Corporations are like individuals who naturally will get sick and the usual thing to do is to admit them to hospital, either for corporate surgery or for treatment, as the case may be. During such a period, it is not likely that they will work in full capacity, depending on the nature of the illness.
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