Arik Air Grounded
The federal government on Thursday morning grounded the flight operations of Arik Air, West Africa's biggest airline by fleet size, over alleged multi billion Naira debt.
Arik is allegedly owing Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) on passenger service charge(PSC), landing and parking charges and over flight charges.
Expectedly, hundreds of passengers were stranded at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, as well as other airports in the country where the airline operates in and out of.
While unconfirmed, it is believed that the commercial airline's service suspension was enforced by the Nigerian federal government due to the airline company's failure to settle operational costs. However, the airline has alleged that the flight suspension was as a result of industrial action by employees belonging to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). It remains unclear as to whether the airline's international flight schedules will be affected.