Airline operators seek bailout fund from FG

Airline operators in Ni­geria on Wednesday cried out to the federal government to bail them out of their business by granting them Special Intervention Fund to remain afloat.

The operators made the de­mand yesterday at an emer­gency interactive session with the Senate Committee on Aviation.

Speaking on behalf of the operators under the aegis of Airline Operators Association of Nigeria, the Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of Arik Airline, Chris Ndulue, said the eco­nomic environment in which they are operating , has moved from bad to worse,

“The economic situation as it is today, is suffocating us out of operation”, he said .

According to him, apart from Aero contractor airline and one other presently un­der distress, two other airlines may follow if urgent interven­tion is not made by the gov­ernment in form of Special Intervention Fund directly to the Aviation Sector.

He listed high interest rate of 24 percent on bank loans, worsening exchange rate of Naira to Dollar and multiple charges from various regula­tory agencies as problems run­ning them out of operation.

He said: “there are a lot of economic indicators that have made business more difficult, which are now manifesting in the ability of the airlines to continue to operate.

“There are many problems - so many problems. We are op­erating in an industry that has very little (profit) margin. For a start, if you have to borrow money and you have to pay 24 per cent, and you don’t make a margin of 24 per cent, it means that you will find it very diffi­cult to pay back the debt. And there is a limit to what you can do in terms of being able to manage the debt. These funda­mentals are the things we need to address.