Airport Reporters

 India’s IndiGo places record order for 500 A320 Family aircraft IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, has placed a firm order for 500 A320 Family aircraft, setting the record for the biggest single purchase agreement in the history of commercial aviation. The latest agreement takes the total number of Airbus aircraft on order by IndiGo to 1,330, establishing its position as the world’s biggest A320 Family customer. The historic purchase agreement was signed by Rahul Bhatia, Promoter & Managing Director of IndiGo, Dr. Venkataramani Sumantran, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, and Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International, at the Paris Air Show 2023. Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, said, “It is difficult to overstate the significance of IndiGo’s new historic order for 500 Airbus A320 Family aircraft. An order book now of almost 1000 aircraft well in...

 Air Mauritius confirms order for three A350 aircraft Air Mauritius has confirmed an order for three A350 aircraft to expand its network in Europe and South Asia. The three latest generation aircraft will bring Air Mauritius’ A350 fleet to a total of seven. The airline already operates four A350 and four A330 Airbus aircraft.  "Air Mauritius is proud to renew its confidence in Airbus and its products, continuing a three- decade long partnership. The additional A350-900 aircraft will help us strengthen our European network and secure further growth in other markets. We are looking forward to achieving our ambitious objectives together with Airbus," said Mr Kresimir Kucko, CEO of Air Mauritius.  “We compliment Air Mauritius on putting the A350 at the heart of its long-haul fleet modernisation programme. With greater range capability, better economics, passenger capacity and comfort, the A350 is the perfect platform to connect the beautiful island of Maurit...

   No fraud  in Arik Air , says receiver manager  The Receiver Manager of Arik Air , Mr Omokide Kamilu Alaba has absolved the management team of any fraudulent activities in the carrier describing on - going investigation by the anti - graft agency : Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) as response to a petition initiated by counsel to  the founder of the airline - Sir Arumemi Johnson. According to the a statement issued by  the media consultant to Arik Air in Receivership , Mr Simon Tumba, the investigation by the  EFCC is based on a petition filed by Mr. Femi Falana, on behalf of  the majority shareholder in Arik, who  owes the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria ( AMCON)  about ₦240 billion as at May 31, 2023.  He said the majority share holder in Arik Air - Sir  Arumemi Johnson is by law an obligor in respect of, the  indebtedness,  for which he is  personally liable. The Arik Air Media Consul...

  EDC Canada cautions EFCC on interference with aircraft  mortgage rights  ......'Development  discouraging potential investments into  Nigeria'   The Export Development Canada (EDC), an international lending organisation ,  has warned the Economic Financial and Crime Commission (EFCC) to lay off its Mortgage Rights, on a  CRJ 1000  airplane in  the fleet of  Arik Air ,which the anti- graft agency is obstructing the owner from repossessing following a petition filed by the airline founder-  Sir Johnson Arumemi. EDC, Arik Air , a leasing company - Jem Leasing and the EFCC in the last one week have been embroiled in a tussle over rights to tear down a CRJ - 1000 aircraft acquired by the carrier as the first/ launch  customer in Africa. Following the tussle, investigations reveal that some  aviation observers are urgently calling on the Federal Government  to protect the interests of international len...

  Arik Air Vs. AMCON: The Big Man Debtor as A Bully PERSPECTIVE By Onyema Omenuwa Once upon a time, there was a popular and, to a large extent, reliable Nigerian airline, known as Arik Air. In the absence of a national carrier, Arik’s towering presence on the aviation landscape tended to situate it as such a carrier. Indeed, in name and operations, Arik Air stood out amongst other airlines, as it inclined towards efficiency and, maybe, elitism. I don’t think one was alone in this perception or assessment of the airline. One could therefore argue that it was the judgment of generality of Nigerian air travellers, and this was clearly shown by the tendency by many passengers to only fly another airline if Arik wasn’t available. But gone are those days. Arik is still very much around, anyway. And they’re still in operation too, though tottering, and under the management of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria; not the...

  Arik Air Founder Sir Arumemi Johnson Owes AMCON Over N400billion From all indications, there appears to be no end to the brouhaha between the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Sir Arumemi Johnson regarding the activities of the Receiver Manager of Arik Air Limited, Mr Kamilu Alaba Omokide FCA, a Senior Vice President at AMCON who is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) based on a shocking petition filed by Mr. Femi Falana, SAN on behalf of Sir Arumemi Johnson on an issue that is clearly before competent courts of law. AMCON, a debt recovery agency of the federal government of Nigeria has for years now been in different courts with several debtors including Sir Arumemi Johnson, who AMCON had severally described as not just a high-profile, and recalcitrant obligor, monsters, and bully borrowers. Only recently, the Arik founder who we learnt is still heavily indebted to AMCON more than N400billion continue to seek help outside t...

  Review of activities in the aviation sector for 2021   Significantly, emerging challenges  propelled by the new variant of COVID - 19 : Omicron has  altered  the stakes for the  aviation industry as the curtain draws on  2021  in the  next four days. But, there is a silver lining in the cloud for domestic carriers, which are revving their aircraft engines for year - end passenger traffic amid rife competition, aircraft deliveries and other survival strategies, writes KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR. The last twelve months  has been a mixed bag for the strategic sector, following huge impacts from travel bans, row over flight frequencies between some governments and other unsavoury developments. flight bans were placed on Nigeria by the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries, which have since been lifted following condemnation by many organisations. Activities in the global aviation sector have been upbeat in the last twelve  months as airl...