Air Peace, Ibom Air, United Nigeria and other airlines in Nigeria have denied being blacklisted by international lessors as reported by BusinessDay on Wednesday.

BusinessDay had earlier reported that 13 domestic airlines were blacklisted by international lessors for their refusal to pay lessor fees, but airlines said the blacklist was on Nigeria and not on the carriers.

They noted that they do not owe lessors and have no issues with them at the moment.

They further explained that the issues with lessors involved past carriers and not current airlines.

Obiora Okonkwo, chairman/CEO of United Nigeria Airlines, told BusinessDay that all the four aircraft on the fleet of United Nigeria Airlines are properties of the company, which are not beholden to any lease contract.

“We have four airlines and they are fully owned by United Nigeria Airlines. Leasing is part of airline business. We have zero obligations with our lessors and they are happy with us. The issue is that there is a blacklist on Nigeria and that has to do with country risk and the relationship with airlines in the past,” Okonkwo said.

He assured that the minister of aviation is working very hard to address the issue.

“What we are suffering now is betrayal from lessors. These lessors are the ones that even come and take back the aircraft from Nigeria airlines unlawfully,” Okonkwo noted.

He reiterated that while there is a ban on Nigeria for dry lease, this has nothing to do with the current airlines flying.

It was also reported that only few Nigerian airlines can secure dry lease aircraft contracts which are more profitable for the airlines.

In a dry lease aircraft arrangement, the owner provides the aircraft to the lessee without a crew. Neither party is required to have an air carrier certificate so long as the aircraft does not carry people or property for compensation or hire. The lessee typically exercises operational control, including legal responsibility of the aircraft under this lease type.

But under a wet leasing arrangement, the owner supplies the aircraft as well as crew members. The owner assumes operational responsibility, which includes performing maintenance, procuring insurance, and other legal responsibilities. This then means that most profits realised from aircraft operations go to the lessor and not the airline.

However, Allen Onyema, Air Peace chairman, said his airline has never requested any dry lease arrangement with any lessor, noting that there is no reason for being blacklisted in the first place.

The airline chairman said all the airline’s aircraft are fully owned by Air Peace.

Annie Essienette, general manager, marketing and communication, Ibom Air, told BusinessDay that Ibom Air has never defaulted and does not have issues with lessors.

“In the course of engaging with some of the lessors, they have thrown names around. We take leasing contracts very seriously and we don’t take things for granted.

“Lessors want to do business with us all the time because of our past record. Even when we disengage with them, we put out a statement to state that we have disengaged,” Essienette said.

She explained that over the years, Nigerian airlines find their inventory depleting because of the naira to dollar exchange rate and its scarcity.

She said at some point, they could not get dollars to purchase and import aircraft parts from other countries as airlines do not manufacture these parts.

Similarly, Max Air, through its lawyers, said it operates a series of 737 and 747 aircraft, which are all fully paid for and owned by the company.

The airline said it is not in the business of leasing aircraft for its domestic and international operations.

“It is important to reiterate here that our client owns all her aircraft and do not lease aircraft,” the airline noted.

“To buttress these and contrary to your assertions, our client does not have any aircraft lease agreement with anyone; and are not indebted to any

anyone for refusing to pay lessor fee. All other assertions published by you are vehemently denied, as they do not represent the true ownership status of our client’s aircraft,” it added.

In a recent interview, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation, said local operators are handicapped because they don’t have access to aircraft that international airlines have on the same terms.

“There is no airline in the world that buys their fleet 100 percent. It is not possible. Statistics says that out of a 100 aircraft flying around the world, about 70 percent of those aircraft are on dry lease from leasing companies and from aircraft manufacturers. So, why can’t we take advantage of these lease arrangements to empower our local operators?

“This is the key to also servicing these international routes because you cannot compete with someone who has access to aircraft on better terms than you do. The wet lease arrangements are very expensive.”

He said the government is trying to support local operators to have access to these lease arrangements and further crash prices on international routes.

He said, “Nigeria is on the black list to get dry lease aircraft around the world. This is the diplomatic visit I have been undertaking since I came.

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“I have been trying to assure aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and aircraft leasing companies that we can protect their assets if they bring them into Nigeria because what they want is the assurance from the government that when these assets are brought into Nigeria, we can allow them to take their assets away if there are breaches to these agreements.”

He said the problem lessors faced in the past was that when they brought in their assets into the country and there was a breach of contract, court injunctions and politics made it difficult for them to take their aircraft back, amounting to huge losses for the lessors.

“So, what they want is that if they bring their aircraft into the country on dry lease, they can take them out when there is a breach. It is the government that will assure these leasing companies and creditors to bring in their aircraft.” (Business Day)

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