Kabir Gombe
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has said it may be forced by circumstance o seek legal redress against BusinessDay for a report that it considered to be malicious and against the business integrity of its members.
It also distanced its members from a report on the cover page of BusinessDay of Wednesday, July 17, 2024 claiming that 13 airlines in the country had been blacklisted by lessors overseas over indebtedness and failure to respect contractual obligations.
The umbrella body of airline owners said the report, as published by the newspaper, was false and contained neither fact nor truth.
Speaking in statement signed by its spokesman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, the airline operators said none of its members was indebted to any dry lessor.
According to the statement, airline operators in Nigeria are responsible business concerns that respect contractual obligations with their foreign partners.
The statement read: “The attention of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (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 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.
“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 by Businessday 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.”
