..Says Airline Will Safe Huge Aviation Fuel If It Lands On Runway 18 Left
The Managing Director Arik Air, Capt Roy Ilegbodu has said that there is no connectio between Arik Air, that is under receivership of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Nigeria Eagle(NG Eagle), a domestic Airline floated by the same AMCON.
The clarification is coming on the heels of the controversy generated following the painting of two of Arik Air aircraft in the livery of NG Eagle.
AMCON took over the management of Arik Air in February, 2017 and since then it has clamoured for the airline to be made the national carrier.
Speaking to the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents(LAAC) new Executive, who paid him a courtesy call at the airline’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, today, Ilegbodu said that there is no connection as has been speculated in the industry.
“Well, in reality there is no connection between the two. That said, you are aware that NG Eagle is solely owned by AMCON and of course you know that Arik Air itself is in receivership and the receivership was instituted by AMCON which is based on the fact that Arik owes significant sums of money to AMCON. So, if you can infer from there that’s the relationship,” he said.
On the rebranding and painting of two Arik Air aircraft in Nigeria Eagle livery, Ilegbodu said, ” I can boldly say that those airplanes in our industry we call recovery. They have been recovered. If a company is owing and it cannot pay, those airplane were actually mortgaged to AMCON and it is very clear that at some point they would take their assets and that is what was done, So, the fact that they carried the name and logo of Arik does not mean they belong to Arik, the owners have taken their property. Of course the opportunity was given tio Arik to pay, I don’t think that happened so I think it’s pretty straight forward. By law, those are mortgaged assets and the owners of the assets have every right to take their assets.“
Abelnewsng.com recalled that the two Nigeria Eagle Boeing 737-7NG aircraft arrived in Nigeria after its livery change at Ethiopia Airlines maintenance facility .
Record indicates that Nigeria Eagle was incorporated as NG Eagle Limited RC: 1600277 on July 11, 2019, with a share capital of one billion.
Presently, the airline is still battling to secure its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Speaking on the cost of aviation fuel also known as JET-A1, the Managing Director said that he cannot give accurate figure but that since aviation fuel is imported , it is tied to Foreign Exchange, adding that if the exchange rate goes up, what that means is that the prices of aviation will also go up
“Well, I cannot give you that information accurately here but suffice it to say that aviation fuel is tied to the exchange rate. Our aviation fuel is imported so anything that is imported is affected by enumerations in Dollar/ Naira exchange rate. If we say FX has gone up about 40 per cent then it is safe to say prices of jet fuel have gone up too y about 40 per cent .”
On how much the airline will save on aviation fuel, if it does not have to land on Runway 18R and taxi to the domestic terminal, the Managing Director said, “There would be significant sums of savings, I can’t even begin to quantify. It is actually a huge drain on not just Arik but all the other operators that have night operations. That can be resolved by installing the Runway lights at the local runway but yes huge sums of money can be saved. Yes, an airplane cycle starts when you start the engine and you are burning fuel, the wear and tear on the engine. So for every cycle, it does not matter if that cycle is from here to benin or from here to London or from here to the US, it is one cycle. So it costs money and that cost is the same whether it is London or Dubai, it is one cycle, it is one cycle.”
“For instance the engine when it is brand new, you say it has 20,000 cycles of life and so you fly 1000 cycles every year, that means that you expect those engines to run for 20 years at 20,000 it goes to zero you cannot use those engines until it goes back to shop for overhaul and those materials that are time related are replaced, those cost for us are much.
“That trip for us from the international airport, 10 minutes sometimes more across the runway, is something we calculate daily anytime after six you know that that is an additional cost for the airline.”
