The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has clarified that its two members – Air Peace and Azman Air – have fallen victims of fraud by foreign lessors to the tune of over $3million.

In a statement released by the spokesman of AON, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, against the backdrop of a recent media report that 13 local airlines have been blacklisted by their lessors over breach of contracts, the group said despite domestic airlines operating under challenging environment, they have remained committed to fulfilling their contractual obligations with lessors and serving the Nigerian public, including contributing to national economic development.

AON, however, did not provide the specifics of how the two local airlines lost $3million in their business dealings with the foreign lessors.

“The attention of AON has been drawn to a report published on the cover page of Business Day on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, titled: ’13 Nigerian Airlines Blacklisted for Contract Breaches’ and a follow-up story on its website also on July 17, titled: “Air Peace, Ibom Air, United Nigeria, Max Air, others say not blacklisted by lessors. The first report claimed that 13 airlines, including Aero Contractors, Air Peace, Arik, Azman, Dana, Green Africa, Ibom Air, Max Air, United Nigeria Airline, and Valuejet, were blacklisted for refusing to pay lessor fees.

“The second report claimed that airline operators denied owing lessors even when the newspaper did not officially speak with the managements of the airlines it listed in its earlier report. For the avoidance of doubt, we categorically state that the first report is entirely false, malicious and defamatory. The second report is even worse as the newspaper, instead of doing the honourable thing required of it for publishing falsehood – that is retraction – it started concocting information to justify a fake news.

“We want to state that Nigerian airlines have consistently worked very hard to meet their contractual obligations with lessors despite operating within a challenging business environment. It is also a well-known fact that the Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, since assuming office, acknowledged the challenges domestic operators face and has made concerted efforts to create an enabling environment for us to operate.

“For the public’s information, two of the airlines mentioned – Air Peace and Azman – have themselves been victims of fraud by lessors, incurring losses exceeding $3 million. Despite these setbacks, domestic airlines have remained committed to serving the Nigerian public and contributing to National Economic development.”

The umbrella body of indigenous airline operators, however, demanded an apology from the media house, saying the group may be forced to seek legal redress over the report.

“We find the publication of such inaccuracies very disheartening. We see it as a calculated attempt to erode confidence and to destroy the aviation industry. We demand an immediate retraction of the report and apology with the same prominence given to the inaccurate cover stories.In the absence of a satisfactory response, we may be forced to file a complaint with relevant media oversight bodies, take legal action or both to protect our reputation,” the statement stated. (LEADERSHIP)

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