The Federal Government has been urged to increase investment in Nigeria’s aviation sector and make the industry a deliberate component of the Renewed Hope Agenda to strengthen the country’s competitiveness and prevent aviation jobs and capital from migrating to competing destinations.
Chief Executive Officer and Accountable Manager of Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Limited, Captain Ado Sanusi, made the call in Lagos during the airline’s 67th anniversary celebration, held under the theme, “Going the Extra Mile.”
Sanusi warned that inadequate investment in airport infrastructure, aviation services and maintenance capacity could leave Nigerian airports as “ghost airports” as neighbouring countries develop facilities designed to attract Nigerian passengers, airlines and aviation-related businesses.
“Aviation is not simply a mode of transport; in nation after nation, in the Gulf, in East Africa, across our own continent, it has been used deliberately as a catalyst for economic growth: tourism, trade, jobs, foreign investment,” he said.
He noted that while Nigeria continues to deliberate, a new mega-airport and major maintenance hub are emerging just across the country’s border, within a few minutes’ flight from Lagos, with the apparent capacity to serve the Nigerian market.
Sanusi said Nigeria risks losing aviation-related jobs, investment and business opportunities unless it responds strategically and urgently to developments in neighbouring countries.
“If we do not respond strategically and soon, we risk our airports becoming ghost airports, our hangars falling silent, and our jobs and investment flying quietly across the border, using our own population as the prize,” he warned.
He acknowledged the Federal Government’s investments in roads, power, agriculture and infrastructure at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, but called for aviation to receive more deliberate attention under the administration’s economic agenda.
“Mr. President, I must respectfully ask: Where is Aviation in the Renewed Hope agenda?” he said.
Reflecting on Aero Contractors’ 67-year history, Sanusi described the airline as Nigeria’s oldest carrier and said its survival through prolonged financial and operational challenges demonstrated the resilience of its workforce.
The airline began operations in 1959 as a charter and crop-spraying operator before becoming an important service provider to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. It later expanded into scheduled passenger operations, charter and rotary-wing services, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and pilot training.
Sanusi recalled some of the airline’s most difficult periods, including when its entire fleet was grounded and operations were suspended.
“We have grounded fleets and empty hangars and still, we flew. We have gone months without a single aircraft in the sky, and still, we flew. We have buried colleagues, gone without pay, and watched the world write us off, and still, we flew,” he said.
He attributed the airline’s survival to the commitment of its engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground personnel and other employees who remained dedicated despite prolonged uncertainty.
Sanusi also highlighted Aero Contractors’ maintenance capabilities, particularly the completion in January 2018 of a C-check on a Boeing 737 at its Lagos hangar. He described the exercise as Nigeria’s first indigenous Boeing 737 C-check in 14 years and a landmark achievement for West and Central Africa.
According to him, the airline’s MRO facility now provides maintenance services to other airlines across West Africa, while Aero Contractors operates as an integrated aviation business.
He said the airline’s financial position had also improved significantly, with its operating margin moving from minus 134 per cent in 2022 to a positive operating margin by 2025.
Sanusi attributed part of the turnaround to the intervention of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which took a majority stake in Aero Contractors in 2016.
He commended AMCON and the airline’s Receiver/Manager, Senator Adeniyi Ayodele Adegbonmire, for their roles in steering the company through its difficult years.
Describing Aero Contractors as a “national treasure,” Sanusi urged the Federal Government to recognise and support the airline’s continued development.
“Aero Contractors has flown through storms before. God willing, we will keep flying,” he said.
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