by Dolapo Adelana

The management of Arik Air appointed by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria has said due to the rot in the airline, it is being forced to make refunds of between N60m and N75m to dissatisfied customers on a weekly basis.

The Chief Executive Officer, Arik Air, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, said the refund is being made especially to customers who had bought tickets on the international routes before AMCON took over the ailing airline, which led to the suspension of flights to foreign destinations.

Ilegbodu, who said this on Tuesday while presenting a scorecard of the AMCON-appointed management since it took over the airline on February 9, 2017, said its international operations would remain suspended until certain things were sorted out, adding that there was no reason to rush back.

He said AMCON had injected N1.5bn so far in Arik since its takeover so as to safeguard its operations.

He said the fund had helped in stabilising the airline’s operations, prevented its collapse and ensured the payment of staff salaries.

“When we started on February 9, we took our time to study what was on ground in Arik. It was quite interesting and disturbing for an airline with 30 airplanes on its books to have only eight functional,” Ilegbodu said.

 

According to him, the outcome of the audit of the airline by KPMG will enable the government to decide on the next line of action.

“We are all looking forward to the closure of the audit because it will show the true position of the company,” he said.