Arik Air Aircraft
…Says It Adheres Strictly To High Safety Standards
As embattled airline; Arik Air tries to wriggle out of the luggage brouhaha involving its London –Lagos passengers, unidentified staff of the airline, whose appointment was allegedly terminated for fraud, has advised intending passengers to stay away from the carrier, claiming that it has not been maintaining its aircraft as at when due.
The message, which was on WhatsApp reads, “Just this morning: A pilot, who just resigned/ withdrew his services from ARIK has advised that if you have to fly, that you stay off ARIK for some time that they’ve not been maintaining the planes and DO NOT HAVE SPARE PARTS TO CHANGE bad ones at any point right now. Please take this information seriously for your own good for now. May God continue to protect us all.”
But in a swift reaction, the General Manager, Public Relations and Communications Manager, Adebanji Ola, urged passengers to ignore any message claiming that airline’s planes are not well maintained, describing the claims as the handiwork of mischief makers.
“We appeal to our guests to ignore any message alleging that the airline’s aircraft are not well maintained. This is the handiwork of mischief makers and one of our staff whose appointment was terminated on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 for misconduct and fraud.”
He continued, “Arik Air also maintains a well-stocked spares parts store with market value of over $250 million.”
The Image maker said that Arik Air, West and Central Africa’s largest carrier has been leading the resurgence of Nigerian civil aviation by committing to being a quality airline adhering and operating to international safety and operational standards using modern aircraft and having high maintenance and safety standards.
He explained that this is evident in the airline achieving the stringent IATA Operational Safety Audit(IOSA) four consecutive times with the last two audits cleared successfully without any findings, adding that this achievement has also earned Arik Air, Enhanced IATA Operational Safety Audit(EIOSA)making it the only airline in West and Central Africa region to have such certification.
The airline, he stated operates the youngest fleet in West Africa with an average hull age of 7.8 years and has an existing contract with world renowned maintenance providers such as Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cityline under full “turnkey” maintenance service contracts and other leading maintenance service providers such as SAMCO Engineering, South African Airways (SAA) Technical and Ethiopia Engineering.
Adebanji stated that the Maintenance/Engineering department of Arik Air had been audited severally by external auditors from the oil and gas sector who have attested to the airline’s provision of a safe and reliable aircraft operation, first class planning, efficient spares holding, whilst increasing aircraft utilisation with no compromise on safety.
This department, he added is responsible for reliability monitoring, original equipment manufacturers service letters and American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) notifications, ensuring Arik Air’s fleet is maintained according to standards complimenting Airworthiness at all times.
To buttress his point , he stated that the airline had in its 10 years of operation safely transported about 20 million passengers across its network of 19 domestic, 10 regional and three international destinations.
