Aero Contractors (N2, Lagos) is planning to more than double its fleet as it looks to regain lost market share, chief executive Ado Sanusi has said.
Nigeria's oldest airline, Aero Contractors was originally 100% owned by the Ibru family. However, following its inability to repay bank loans, the state-owned Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took a 60% stake in the airline in late 2012 before assuming managerial control in 2016. At the time, it operated a fleet of seven B737-400s, six B737-500s, one Dash 8-200, one Dash 8-300, and two Dash 8-400s on flights throughout Nigeria as well as to Ghana. However, in a bid to curtail spiralling losses, it was then forced to ground all but one of its aircraft in 2017 and to reduce its network to all but key trunk routes.
Since then, it has worked to restore its fleet to one B737-400 (reactivated), three B737-500s (of which one is stored), one Dash 8-200 and one Dash 8-300. Overall, it connects Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt Awolowo, Warri, Asaba, Kano, and Uyo.
However, in an interview with ThisDay newspaper last week, Sanusi said the aim was to operate a fleet of 15 aircraft.
“Our aim is to have a 15-aircraft airline. What we have done today is to tell passengers that we are back and we pride in safety and reliability, which is the best way to fly in Aero,” he said.
The added capacity will be used to resume several closed routes while at the same time, open new ones.
“We are opening up Nigeria for our esteemed passengers. We believe that by the end of first half of this year, we should have opened new routes in the Eastern part of the country. We are looking at Owerri and Enugu and it will come very soon. Uyo was there before, so we are reinstating it," he added.
“We have included Kano to our routes. We introduced more frequencies into Abuja. We now operate Abuja-Asaba, Warri, Uyo and we are in the process of introducing Yola. We will operate Lagos-Yola, Abuja-Yola, Yola-Abuja and Yola-Lagos. This will open more routes for our passengers. Sokoto bound passengers going to Yola can come and join our Yola flight and those from Asaba can join our Yola flight."
To help boost ancillary revenue, Aero Contractors has also begun offering its MRO services to the market, specialising in B737-500 C-Checks.
“The MRO is doing very well, and I am very happy about it. We have done three C-checks in-house, we have done a couple of 18-months check for some Nigerian airlines. We are about to do a C-check for another airline. And we have a couple of Nigerian airlines that are lined up for C-checks this year,” he added.
