13 Nigerian airlines blacklisted for contract defaults

International aircraft lessors, firms who lease airplanes, have backlisted no fewer than 13 Nigerian airlines for various contract defaults.

In a report on Wednesday, BusinessDay said the blacklisted domestic airlines are: Aero, Air Peace, Arik, Azman, Dana, Green Africa, Ibom Air, Max Air, NG Eagle, Overland, Reno Air, United Nigeria Airline and Value Jet.

It was gathered that the lessors blacklisted the Nigerian airlines over their refusal to pay lessor fees contrary to the terms of their contract.

Also, the airlines were blacklisted on the ground that they took international lessors to court and refused to return their airplanes on demand after breaching the payment terms.

The contract between domestic airlines and lessors stipulates that the latter can demand the return of their aircraft in cases of payment refusal.

Lessors who have blacklisted Nigerian airlines include Planesense, Jetcraft, AerCap, Air Lease Corporation, Avolon, among others.

The development has since impacted the operations of local carriers and made it difficult for them to compete favorably with foreign airlines on international routes.

Consequently, only a few Nigerian airlines can secure wet-leased aircraft and not dry-lease aircraft contracts which are more profitable for the airlines.

Commenting on the development, Emeka Nwafor, managing director of Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport, said, “Apart from foreign exchange problems, there is also the blacklist problem that airlines are facing with aircraft lessors.

“Some people ordinarily would want to invest in the industry but because of the behavior of some other people in the past, they won’t.”