5th September, 2012
Simon Ateba
Billionaire businessman, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, has shut down all Air Nigeria flight operations nationwide effective from Monday.
Ibrahim also announced that all but 50 staff have been sacked with immediate effect.
He said the airline will be shut down for one year.
The airline had continued to run regional and international flights after the government suspended its domestic operations on bankruptcy allegations a few months ago.
Air Nigeria claimed that it is temporarily shutting down its operation because of staff disloyalty and anti-business environment in the aviation sector.
The airline said it regrets any inconvenience the decision would cause its passengers on all the routes, adding that it advises them to contact agents from whom they had purchased tickets for refunds.
Ibrahim was quoted as saying that the management remains committed to the survival of the airline.
According to him, “corporations are like individuals who naturally will get sick and the usual thing to do is to admit them to hospitals, either for corporate surgery or for treatment, as the case may be.”
Meanwhile, Dana Air is also on the brink of collapse, sources told P.M.NEWS.
Our sources said that even after sending most staff on compulsory leave, the airline is struggling to pay remaining staff salaries.