The federal government cannot continue to tax airlines to fund aviation agencies, Aero Contractors managing director Captain Ado Sanusi said.
Sanusi also denounced that the government imposes excessive taxes on the airlines, while they also face difficulties in accessing foreign currency.
Sanusi said this at Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, during the Aero Contractors relaunch ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on Monday next week.
The big problem: According to Sanusi, airlines are overtaxed by the government, noting that this has led to high death rates among carriers.
He argued that the difficult operating environment had kept the country’s airlines underreporting profits in the last 30 years and called for a change in approach by the government.
He said industry players needed to come together as a team to address challenges in the airline sub-industry over the past three decades, saying Aero Contractors could not be insulated from such industry challenges.
- He said: “The challenge for all airlines is funding, and Aero Contractors voluntarily suspended operations in part due to funding. Therefore, all airlines in this country are experiencing challenges with finance, currency exchange and multiple taxation.
- “Every airline has had a challenge with finances for the last 30 years. I don’t think any airline posted a profit in the period. What does that tell you? It means there is something wrong, perhaps the environment in which we operate. Other airlines, including in Africa, are posting profits.
- “Going back to Aero Contractors, yes, we had a financial challenge. Now, our cost structure, we’ve tried to reduce it. We also try to consider outsourcing to reduce cost. The four strategic business units that we have will support the airline so that we can reduce external spending.”
Sanusi explained that the airline would return to service with six Boeing B737 and Dash 8 (Q-300/400) aircraft to 10 destinations, having met the regulatory requirements of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Remember that the airline suspended scheduled services on July 20, 2022 to allow it to restructure and reposition the airline, while the NCAA stepped in to audit operations.
Sanusi added that the company now has four strategic business models to strengthen its operations.
Sanusi, who revealed that Aero was starting operations under new management, said he would relaunch services to Warri, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, Yola, Kano, Asaba and Calabar.
New management: Aero Contractors is starting operations with a new managing director/general director, Captain Ado Sanusi, former managing director of the airline; and a new finance director, Mr. Charles Grant.
The Aero boss also revealed that the airline plans to relaunch its regional operations by the last quarter of 2023, adding that it is also targeting a significant part of the domestic market, especially this season with the new products it plans to unveil soon. .