LAGOS: 04 December 2012: Aero, the leading e-airline in West Africa has won the Best West African Airline of the Year 2012 Award at the West African Tourism and Hospitality Awards (WATHAWARDS) held on the 30^th of November 2012, at Golden Tulip Hotel and Conference Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.

Aero’s win of the award confirms the airline’s decision to offer services in the Nigerian market to the highest international standards.

In the words of Adedayo Adesugba, the President of the Awards group, he said: “The West African Tourism and Hospitality award is formed to recognize organizations and individuals in the Tourism & Hospitality Industry, and as a platform for acknowledging and rewarding creativity among all the participants and operators within the West African region.

This event is the largest gathering of Hospitality practitioners within the region. It has over 5000 voters and evaluators involved in the processes with at least 500 operators at the Gala night award ceremony.

“We recognize the role Aero has been playing in ensuring that the travelling needs in the ECOWAS region are constantly met.”

Commenting on the award, the Managing Director of Aero, Mr Obaro Solomon Ibru, said: “We are delighted to have won the West African Airline of the year award. We will, however, not relent in our efforts but we will continually look at new and exciting ways of meeting and even exceeding the flying expectations of Nigerians.”

Aero has grown to be one of the most reputable regional carriers in West Africa operating over 50 flights with a fleet of modern 737s and Bombardier Dash 8. The airline operates flights to major domestic destinations including Accra, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Owerri, Uyo, Benin, Enugu and Kano, with plans to open more routes within Nigeria.

Aero also offers reliable helicopter service solutions which cover the oil and gas industry, ad-hoc spot charters, search and rescue, aerial photography and medical evacuations. We have the capacity, skills and experience to deliver personalized services to suit our customers’ operational needs.

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The flight, which will be operated with a Boeing 737-500 series will depart Calabar for Abuja at 09:50am and arrive 11:00am with flight number AJ175, while Abuja to Calabar flight departs at 11:35am and arrives 12:45pm with flight number AJ176.

Announcing these services, Captain Akin George, Aero Managing Director said: “The decision was taken in the interest and comfort of the airline’s loyal customers to give them more choices and flexibility in planning their business and leisure trips and also reduce the stress of travelling during this festive season”.

Over the years, Aero has become the first airline of choice offering excellent value for money and making travels easier and convenient.

Aero has grown to be one of the most reliable and reputable carrier in Africa, operating over 50 flights a day and covering more than 15 domestic and regional destinations.

The daily Lagos-Warri-Lagos and alternate weekday Lagos-NAFbase-Lagos flights will be operated with our Dash8 -300 series. This is in our bid to restore flight convenience and quality service to our esteemed passengers on these routes.

The flights can be purchased online at www.flyaero.com or at any of our ticket counters.  Please see below for the schedule of the flights:

LAGOS TO WARRI 08:00 09:00 AJ351 MON, WED,FRI
WARRI TO LAGOS 10:15 11:25 AJ352 MON, WED, FRI

LAGOS TO WARRI 08:00 09:00 AJ351 TUE,THUR,SAT,SUN
LAGOS TO WARRI 15:45 16:45 AJ353 TUE,THUR,SAT,SUN

WARRI TO LAGOS 09:20 10:25 AJ352 TUE, THUR, SAT,SUN
WARRI TO LAGOS 17:00 18:10 AJ354 TUE, THUR, SAT, SUN

LAGOS TO PORT HARCOURT NAFBASE 07:15 08:45 AJ321   MON,WED AND FRI
PORT HARCOURT NAFBASE TO LAGOS 18:00 19:30 AJ322   MON,WED AND FRI

We hope to see you on board soon.

Our Interswitch payment option is currently undergoing maintenance.

It will be fully functional within the next 24 hours.

You can pay through our other payment channels such as

Etranzact

VISA card

Book-on hold and pay at bank branches

Umobile

Quick Teller at www.quickteller.com and Automated Teller Machines (ATM)

Commenting on the issue, the managing director of the airline Captain Akinlawon George, said:

“The pilot decided to make an air return. This is a standard practice, and Aero Contractors will always adhere to best practices at all times. Passenger’s safety is our biggest priority and at no time was the safety of our passengers in jeopardy”.

The objective of this exercise is to ensure that the airline and the aviation agencies are able to respond positively in the event of an emergency.

The Managing Director/CEO of the airline Capt. Akin George said

“The exercise aims to assess the state of readiness of all the functional units within the airline and the aviation agencies to respond to emergency situation such as crashes, fire and emergency landings. From what we have observed, it is a success. We worked hand in hand with some independent auditors and the regulatory bodies to ensure that there was synergy within all the units.

“We will like to thank FAAN, NCAA, Fire Service, Nigerian Police and our staff for their support during the exercise”.

Mustafa Chike-Obi, the AMCON managing director denied reports of a takeover saying “it is not true”.

He said, “Reports that AMCON has taken over Aero Contractors is not true. We took over the debts, not the company.

We have had the debts for almost a year now. Therefore, what AMCON has done does not have any impact on Aero Contractors’ normal business.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced on Friday that all loans from banks to Aero Contractors Airline should be halted because of its $200m loan.

The AMCON boss, Chike-Obi however did not reveal the terms and conditions of the said takeover.
AMCON, which was established through the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria Act, 2010 (AMCON Act), is mandated to efficiently resolve all problems associated with non-performing loans in Nigerian banks, financial institutions and corporations.

Aero Contractor’s Chief Financial Officer, Omoke Enyi, confirmed the debt takeover by the Assets Management Company saying, “We can confirm that Aero’s debt has been taken over by AMCON. Currently Aero is going through a restructuring exercise under AMCON, pending final approval by AMCON board which is expected very soon.”

So we take it that Aero will continue to fly their normal routes as usual.

The flight from Abuja to Uyo and Uyo to Abuja which will be operated with a Boeing 737 will depart at 12:45pm daily from either location.

Over the years, Aero has become the first airline of choice offering excellent value for money and making travels easier and convenient through its electronic products like book and pay online, online check in, online insurance, vouchers for on-line transactions and other numerous offerings.

“We are very excited to be launching these new routes and frequencies, which give our customers even more travel options to and from Uyo,” said Captain Akin George, Aero Managing Director. “In addition, the launch of these new routes and added frequencies further underscores the importance of our interest in the dynamic city of Uyo and our commitment to its growth.”

Aero flies to major domestic destinations including Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Warri, Enugu, Kano and Benin with plans to open more routes.

The POS machines are available at the ticketing counter at Murtala Muhammed Airports 2 (MMA2) and at Aero contractors private terminal, Ikeja.

Since its cashless, the use of POS subsequently eliminates the cash handling fee charged over the counter.

It’s Fast! It’s safe and it’s cashless…….