LAGOS/Nigeria: Aero Contractors has called for stronger government support for indigenous aviation operators and technical facilities, warning that Nigeria could lose jobs, investment and aviation business to competing regional hubs without a deliberate strategy to strengthen the domestic industry.
The airline’s Managing Director, Capt. Ado Sanusi, made the call in Lagos as Aero Contractors marked its 67th anniversary with an appeal for the Federal Government to give greater strategic attention to aviation under its Renewed Hope Agenda.
Sanusi said the airline’s seven-decade history demonstrated the value of preserving indigenous aviation institutions, particularly those that had developed technical skills and infrastructure capable of supporting the wider industry.
He said Aero Contractors had survived some of the most difficult periods in Nigeria’s aviation history because of the determination of its workforce and its willingness to continually adapt.
Reflecting on the airline’s turbulent years, Sanusi said there were periods when aircraft were grounded, hangars were empty and employees went for months without salaries, yet staff continued to work towards keeping the company alive.
He particularly recognised the contributions of engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground personnel and other workers whose commitment, he said, helped the airline overcome repeated operational and financial setbacks.
Founded in 1959 as a charter and crop-spraying operator, Aero Contractors gradually expanded its role in the Nigerian aviation industry, including supporting oil and gas operations through rotary-wing services and transporting personnel and equipment to locations with limited road access.
The company subsequently developed scheduled passenger operations, aviation training, charter services and aircraft maintenance capabilities, with scheduled passenger services commencing in 2000.
Sanusi said the development of the airline’s Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility represented one of the company’s most important contributions to Nigeria’s quest for greater technical independence in aviation.
He recalled that Aero Contractors engineers completed a C-check on a Boeing 737 at the airline’s Ikeja facility on January 4, 2018, describing it as a landmark achievement after years without a Nigerian airline undertaking the heavy maintenance procedure locally.
The airline, he said, had since continued to invest in its MRO operation, including the acquisition of new equipment and smart tools and the expansion of its hangar to increase its capacity to serve operators within Nigeria and the wider West and Central African market.
The anniversary celebration also featured the unveiling of newly acquired MRO equipment by Sanusi, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo and other aviation industry stakeholders.
Sanusi said the airline’s financial position had also improved following years of restructuring, noting that its operating margin had moved from minus 134 per cent in 2022 to a positive position by 2025.
He acknowledged the intervention of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, which took a majority stake in the airline in 2016 when it was facing serious financial difficulties.
According to him, the experience reinforced the need for Nigeria to identify and preserve aviation assets with strategic value rather than allow indigenous technical capacity to deteriorate.
Sanusi also raised concerns about the growing competition from aviation hubs outside Nigeria, saying neighbouring countries were investing in airports and maintenance infrastructure with the Nigerian market in mind.
He argued that aviation should be treated as more than a transportation service, pointing to its potential to stimulate tourism, trade, employment and foreign investment.
While commending President Bola Tinubu and Keyamo for ongoing airport infrastructure projects, he called for a specific and coordinated national strategy for aviation to complement investments in roads, rail and power.
Sanusi warned that without such a strategy, Nigeria could find itself with improved physical infrastructure but insufficient indigenous airlines, maintenance facilities and other aviation businesses to fully utilise them.
He therefore appealed to the Federal Government to protect strategic local aviation assets and create an environment that would allow Nigerian operators and technical service providers to compete for business within the African market.
The anniversary brought together government officials, regulators, aviation operators and other stakeholders, with the unveiling of the new MRO equipment highlighting the industry’s growing emphasis on local technical capability.
For Aero Contractors, the anniversary was not only a celebration of longevity but also an opportunity to make the case that the survival and strengthening of indigenous aviation institutions should form part of Nigeria’s broader economic development strategy.
