Air Nigeria terminated its operations on Monday due to “staff disloyalty and environmental challenges”, the latest setback for the country’s aviation industry after a rival’s plane crash in June killed 163 people. According to Reuters, it is now shutting down operations and sacking over 500 staff in a
move that has prompted union protests over
alleged unfair dismissal and unpaid salaries. Investors behind the airline have struggled to
deal with $250m (£157m) of debt taken on
when they bought the carrier from Virgin two
years ago, BBC said. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority suspended
Air Nigeria in June due to financial concerns,
although some flights were allowed to
continue. “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,” a statement from the company’s
Chairman Jimoh Ibrahim said. Ibrahim said Air Nigeria would close
operations for at least a year but he hoped
to resurrect the airline in the future Privately-owned Air Nigeria was part of
Richard Branson’s Virgin fleet until he pulled
out in 2010, selling his minority stake. It operated flights across West Africa and to
London. The demise of Air Nigeria leaves the country
with just four domestic carriers operating
scheduled flights.