Arik AirNigeria’s largest airline, Arik Air, has suspended all domestic flights in Nigeria, a statement said on Wednesday, following protests that left thousands stranded nationwide, and planes unable to take off.
Workers stormed the Murtala Muhamed Airport terminal 1 in Lagos on Wednesday morning and sealed off the terminal building, preventing Arik Air flights from taking off over indebtedness. They sang, danced and vowed not to leave until at least a billion naira out of the 12 billion naira they claimed Arik owes aviation agencies was paid before noon. That did not happen.
Arik Air and aviation workers have been at loggerheads for years over claims and counterclaims of indebtedness. Mr. Simon Ateba, the publisher of TheSimonAtebaNews, has documented crises for years with little progress being made.
On Wednesday, workers said enough was enough, stormed the terminal building from where Arik launches most of its 120 daily flights, sealed it off, and prevented workers from going in. As the crisis lasted, negotations by Arik Air failed and the flights were all suspended.
Below is Arik statement is suspending the flights.
The Federal Airports of Nigeria (FAAN) workers’ union on Wednesday morning blocked the operations of Arik Air at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. Workers of the airline were prevented from gaining access to their duty posts thereby disrupting the day’s operations.
The action by the workers’ union is connected with the long-standing and unsubstantiated claim by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) of spurious indebtedness of the airline to the agency which is now before a Federal High Court in Lagos at the instance of FAAN.
For several months, the management of Arik Air and FAAN have been meeting to reconcile payment accounts between the two institutions. The reconciliation process is still ongoing until the latest actions by the union.
This is not the first time that FAAN workers’ union will be taking the laws into their hands by disrupting operations of Arik Air.
The current situation is deeply out of control of Arik Air and the management of the airline has been compelled to suspend all domestic operations for today. This will remain in force until such a time the unfortunate situation is resolved.
Arik Air sincerely apologize for the inconveniences the FAAN workers’ union action may have caused its esteemed passengers. We live to serve the needs of the people of the great nation Nigeria.
We look forward to working collaboratively with FAAN and other aviation agencies to resolve the impasse and return to our core purpose of providing essential world class services to the people of Nigeria.
Ola Banji