The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that Arik Air (W3, Lagos) has been given the green light to restart domestic flights, ending the airline's weeklong grounding.
"This is confirmed. Arik is good to go," the NCAA's public affairs and consumer protection director, Michael Achimugu, confirmed to ch-aviation. He said this followed a resolution reached between the airline and the creditor [Nigerian fuel provider Atlas Petroleum International], brokered by aviation minister Festus Keyamo and the director-general of the NCAA, Chris Najomo.
Achimugu said the airline was boarding scheduled flights for August 8, adding: "The necessary parties have been notified. The NCAA will do everything possible to protect all stakeholders. The airline has suffered heavy revenue losses in this period, and we are glad that a resolution has been reached."
According to sources close to the airline, Arik Air planned to resume four flights in the afternoon of August 8:
- Flight ARA721, Abuja-Lagos with B737-800 5N-MJQ (msn 38971);
- Flight ARA743, Port Harcourt Awolowo-Lagos, with B737-700 5N-MJF (msn 34762);
- Flight ARA733, Lagos-Abuja, and Flight ARA736, Abuja-Lagos, with DHC-8-Q400 5N-BKX (msn 4470).
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) had grounded all three aircraft on July 30 following an order issued by the Federal Supreme Court on June 25 that the aircraft be sold to recover the USD2.5 million debt the airline owes to Atlas Petroleum. Arik Arik secured an ex-parte order to halt the execution of the order, but NAMA said it chose to ground the aircraft to keep them under the court's control.
Arik Air has been under the receivership of the federal state-run Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) since 2017.
