MaxAir (Nigeria) (VM, Katsina) claims it resumed limited scheduled domestic operations on July 30, 2023, following a two-week grounding due to safety concerns, but is keeping its B737s on the ground.
"After conducting a thorough internal investigation, it was brought to our attention that our operations were impacted by adulterated fuel. As a result, we promptly initiated an in-house audit and, in the interest of passenger safety, voluntarily suspended our operations for two days before the intervention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) [on July 13, 2023]. We would like to reassure all our passengers that we have been working diligently to address the safety concerns raised during this suspension period. Our dedicated team has been working around the clock to resolve these issues," the airline said.
However, ch-aviation analysis of ADS-B data shows that MaxAir did not reactivate any of its B737s on July 30. As its fleet of five B737-300s and one B737-400s remains grounded, the airline continues to operate two B747-400s and one B777-200 on services connecting Nigeria and Jeddah International. On July 30, the airline added Abuja, Lagos, and Gomel as additional stops on its services to its main Hajj/Umrah base at Kano in northern Nigeria. Those sectors, operated under the same flight number as the Jeddah-Nigeria sectors, appear to be its only domestic operations at this point.
ADS-B data shows that MaxAir has not resumed any of its scheduled domestic flights operated independently of the Jeddah flights.
The airline did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
MaxAir separately said that one of its two B747-400s, 5N-ADM (msn 30023), was briefly stranded at Niamey on July 26. The aircraft was unable to depart for Jeddah in the wake of a military coup in the country. Following a standoff lasting less than a day, the quadjet was allowed to carry Nigerien pilgrims on July 27.
