Nigerian carrier Arik Air has decided to temporarily suspend its domestic services due to a dispute with the country’s aviation authorities.
Reports said that passengers have been left stranded at Lagos airport, as flights were suspended due to a dispute regarding unpaid payments to the Nigeria’s airports authority.
“Arik Air’s executive board has taken the decision to temporarily suspend all domestic operations,” said the airline in a statement.
“This follows the unwarranted actions of the Ministry of Aviation and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to disrupt our domestic operations and our customers yesterday.
“International and regional flights are still fully operational and remain unaffected.
“Arik Air continues to meet our obligations under agreed payment arrangements with FAAN. Any other suggestion is simply not true.
“We are fully committed to resolving this disagreement and restoring domestic flights as soon as possible.”
Arik’s move is another blow to the beleaguered Nigerian aviation industry, following Air Nigeria’s decision to stop all operations earlier this month.
arikair.com