Fakoyejo Olalekan
The inability of Azman Air’s management to raise foreign exchange for the maintenance of the airline’s aircraft has been cited as the reason the company shut down its operation.
Azman has four Boeing 737 series aircraft pulled out of operation for C-checks in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities in Nigeria and Turkey.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelA comprehensive C-check on a Boeing 737 series reportedly costs about $1.8 million. However, the company couldn’t obtain the necessary funds to finance the maintenance locally and internationally, forcing Azman Air to suspend operations going forward.
“We couldn’t raise the necessary foreign exchange to bring back the aircraft to operations. Don’t forget that the naira had dropped in recent times and it has even continued to drop with this government. Currently, a dollar is over N900. Which market can sustain that?
“We are not the only ones affected by this challenge. Every airline is going through the same in our clime. I can tell you the fleets of most of the airlines have plummeted. They can’t bring back their aircraft from maintenance bases either in Nigeria or abroad.
“We sell in naira and we carry out virtually every form of our operations in dollars. We buy spare parts in dollars, insurance, which we do in dollars. The equipment we use is acquired in dollars. There is no part of the aircraft that we manufacture here. So, the terrain is tough. More airlines will go down,” a source was quoted in a report by Nairametrics on Thursday.
Although the spokesman for Azman Air, Nurudden Aliyu, said the airline is not ceasing operation, stating that the suspension will be lifted. But he didn’t disclose the resumption date.
“We are not ceasing our operations. We only suspended it. We have pulled out four of our airplanes for maintenance. We had hoped that they would return immediately, but since we could not get them back, we had to send our staff on leave of absence. But we are coming back, I can assure you of that,” Aliyu said.
With uncertainty surrounding the company’s future, Azman Air and the management of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have been meeting to discuss the airline’s plan. Although the source said the meeting has not been fruitful.
