Ahmed Kuru
The CEO of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru, is adding a new varnish to the agency that is both brilliant and unprecedented. With this development in action, AMCON is better equipped to meet its vision of being a “key stabilising and re-vitalising tool in the Nigerian economy.”
AMCON is one of those agencies that hold no scare or value for the average Nigerian, especially those at the lower tiers of the economy. However, for those that interact (in the billions and hundreds of millions) with banks, AMCON is like a cranky and old schoolteacher that is quick with the whip and aiming for delicate parts. Thus, it is nothing of note to read about AMCON seizing one property or the other.
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Okechukwu Nnodim
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has reached an advanced stage towards launching a multibillion naira airline by pooling together its aviation assets especially planes in debt-ridden Arik Air and Aerocontactors Airlines, findings by
Sunday PUNCH have revealed.
The new international airline, to be named Nigeria Eagle, may take to the sky with at least 10 planes as early as June, according to insiders who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter.
AMCON is expected to make an official statement on the deal very soon.
It was learnt that AMCON, a Federal Government-owned bad debt manager which owns controlling stakes in both Arik and Aero, chose to establish the new airline as a clever means of wriggling out of the multibillion naira liabilities currently hanging on the two carriers.
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Kayode Oyero
Indigenous debt-ridden airline, Arik Air, has refused to speak on the move by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria to use its aviation assets especially planes to launch a multibillion naira airline.
The PUNCH had exclusively reported that the new international airline planned by AMCON, to be named Nigeria Eagle, may take to the sky with at least 10 planes as early as June, according to insiders.
It was also learnt that AMCON, a Federal Government-owned bad debt manager which owns controlling stakes in both Arik and Aero Contractors, chose to establish the new airline as a clever means of wriggling out of the multibillion naira liabilities currently hanging on the two carriers.
AMCON in 2017 took over Arik Air over alleged indebtedness by the former owners of the airline. It had in 2016 taken over the management of Aero Contractors, the oldest indigenous carrier.
With both airlines under AMCON’s management, the federal government became the biggest operator in the domestic market.
But four years later, there is uncertainty over AMCON’s exit plan in the two airlines.
Last year, speculations were rife about the move by AMCON to rebrand Arik Air into Nigeria Eagle but this was swiftly debunked by the agency.
Its Head, Corporate Communications Department, Jude Nwazor had noted that the corporation currently has more than five airlines in its aviation portfolio, saying the proposed entity has nothing to do with rebranding any of the airlines under it.
Aviation industry stakeholders in this report recommend ways to improve air transportation in the country, writes Chinedu Eze
The Nigerian aviation sector is still apprehensive about the effects of the second wave of the COVID-19 on passenger traffic. But the availability of the vaccine gives hope that the damage the virus would wrought in the sector henceforth would be temporary, as global health agencies and governments strive to ensure that coronavirus vaccine is distributed to every part of the world.
In Nigeria, old illness suffered by the airlines was exacerbated by the pandemic and left the operators writhing in pains. But so far, since after the lockdown none of the airline has gone under.