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FAAN stops Arik flights from Abuja

Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka

Hundreds of Arik Air passengers were left stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Thursday as a result of a disagreement between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the airline.

It was learnt that FAAN stopped the domestic carrier from carrying out its operations at the airport due to issues of indebtedness.

Although the airline refuted the claim by the agency, our correspondent gathered that the disagreement was manifested at the domestic wing of the airport when officials of FAAN disrupted Arik Air’s flight operations.

Sources at the airport stated that the feud between both organisations lasted for hours as the largest indigenous airline in the country was stopped from operating till around 5pm.

A source at the airport who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said, “Many passengers were left stranded at the terminal and they were passengers of Arik Air. Other airlines were allowed to fly but Arik was stopped.

“They only started operating from around 4.30pm. They have long standing issues with FAAN and it has to do with their indebtedness.”

Arik Air confirmed in a statement that officials of FAAN on Thursday morning disrupted its operations at the Abuja airport.

According to the airline, its employees were denied access to their duty posts, making it impossible to process passengers for departure from Abuja.

It said, “The latest action may not be unconnected with allegation of debt that FAAN claimed Arik Air owed. The airline has described the debt figure by the agency as fictitious and malicious.

“Arik Air insists that it does not owe FAAN any money since the agency’s charges are paid in advance (pay-as-you-go basis). This has been the practice for over two years when all the aviation agencies introduced pay-as-you-go for their services. The bogus debt claim by FAAN is, therefore, unacceptable to Arik Air.”

The airline claimed that the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka had earlier stepped into the lingering debt issue and had directed that a firm of auditors be engaged to reconcile the books.

“This process has not been concluded before the latest action by FAAN this Thursday morning,” it said.

It went on to state that since about 10:50am when the Minister of Aviation directed the FAAN managing director to allow Arik Air access into the terminal, the directive had yet to be complied with by FAAN.

The airline apologised for “the inconvenience the FAAN action may have caused its esteemed guests. The management of Arik Air is taking steps to guard against this kind of action in the future.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for FAAN, Yakubu Dati, told our correspondent that he had not seen the statement of Arik and would not react to the airline’s claims.

Our correspondent forwarded the statement to him and sent him a text message to that effect but received no response up till the time of filing this report.