Arik Air suspends all flights to London and Johannesburg

London

Arik Air Air has suspended all flights to London and Johannesburg to focus more on its local, regional routes till it is back to its normal mode of operations.

This is coming few days after the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), took control of the operations and management of Arik Air, the This rash decision would have been taken based on the reduction in the number of aircraft fleet from 30 to 9 within one year.

Statement by the new management of the airline also said that the airline decided to stop the two long-haul flights to find permanent solution facing its passengers.The carrier had about two years ago suspended operations on Lagos-Dubai route due to its inability to compete with other carriers on the route due mostly to poor customer service by its staff and management.

“This is to bring to the notice of the traveling public our intention to suspend our international flight operations to enable us to find permanent solution facing our passengers as it will allow us to carry out a thorough assessment of the situation.

“The strategic business decision is meant to realign our operations and refocus on satisfying our domestic and West Africa and other international passengers.

“It will 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,” the statement added.

The statement however assured that it would refund all international passengers of the airline affected by the decision especially those who have booked their flights on these routes ahead of time.

“The international route is very critical for the strategic turnaround, growth strategy and stability of the airline. Therefore we intend to revisit the routes immediately as we address all the problems inherited, which is affecting and creating more passenger dissatisfaction.

“We appeal to all passengers to kindly bear with us as the decision is to ensure that the airline adheres strictly to international aviation best practices.”

In the late hours of yesterday, AMCOn also took over the management of OAS Helicopters.

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