Aero Contractors at 67: Airline seeks national treasure status, warns against aviation infrastructure decline
Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s oldest airline, has called for its recognition as a national aviation treasure, saying its 67-year history of resilience, technical development and contribution to the industry makes it a strategic national asset that must be protected.
The airline’s Managing Director, Capt. Ado Sanusi, made the call at the airline’s 67th anniversary celebration in Ikeja, Lagos, where he said Aero Contractors had survived decades of severe operational and financial challenges while continuing to contribute to Nigeria’s aviation development.
Speaking on the theme, “Going the Extra Mile,” Sanusi said the airline’s survival was a product of the commitment of its workforce rather than luck.
“I came to tell you a story of resilience. 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,” he said.
According to him, the airline had endured periods when employees went without pay, lost colleagues and faced widespread expectations of its demise, yet its workforce remained committed to keeping the airline alive.
He particularly commended its engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground personnel and other support staff for sustaining the airline through years of uncertainty.
Sanusi said Aero Contractors had evolved from a small charter and crop-spraying company established in 1959 into an integrated aviation enterprise with scheduled passenger operations, charter and rotary-wing services, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), as well as pilot training.
He said its early rotary-wing operations played a major role in supporting Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, particularly in transporting personnel and equipment to locations that were inaccessible by road.
He added that the airline’s training school had also contributed to the development of generations of Nigerian pilots and engineers.
In 2000, Aero Contractors commenced scheduled passenger operations, serving major Nigerian cities and destinations along the West Coast, making it the country’s longest-serving scheduled airline.
Sanusi also highlighted the airline’s contribution to Nigeria’s aviation maintenance capability, recalling that on Jan. 4, 2018, its engineers completed a C-check on a Boeing 737 at its Ikeja hangar.
He described the feat as significant because no Nigerian airline had performed a C-check on a Boeing 737 locally for 14 years.
According to him, the achievement was the first of its kind in Nigeria and across West and Central Africa.
He said the airline’s MRO facility had since been upgraded with modern smart tools and new equipment, while its hangar had also been expanded to enable it serve airlines across the West and Central African market.
Sanusi said the airline’s financial recovery was also beginning to reflect its resilience, noting that its operating margin had improved from minus 134 per cent in 2022 to a positive operating margin by 2025.
He attributed the airline’s renewed stability to sustained efforts to rebuild its operations after years of difficulties.
In 2016, when the airline faced severe financial challenges, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took a majority stake, providing what Sanusi described as a second chance for the airline.
He said the milestone should therefore not be viewed merely as an anniversary but as a reminder of the airline’s contribution to Nigeria’s aviation development.
“Sixty-seven years is not a number, it is a living memory, carried by every Nigerian who learned to trust the skies because of us, and by every young engineer and pilot who cut their teeth in our hangars and cockpits,” he said.
Sanusi, however, expressed concern over the broader challenges confronting Nigeria’s aviation industry.
He commended President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, for the ongoing renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
He called, however, for a more defined Renewed Hope Agenda for Aviation, arguing that the sector should be positioned as a catalyst for economic growth through tourism, trade, employment and foreign investment.
According to him, Nigeria risks losing its competitive position in African aviation as other countries invest heavily in new mega-airports and major maintenance facilities designed to attract the Nigerian market.
“If nothing strategic is done, we risk our airports becoming ghost structures,” he warned.
Sanusi said Nigeria needed to take deliberate steps to ensure that aviation infrastructure and indigenous technical capacity were developed in a manner that would enable the country compete effectively for regional and international aviation business.
He urged the government to protect strategic indigenous aviation assets such as Aero Contractors and position them to contribute to the sector’s long-term growth.
The anniversary celebration, attended by aviation stakeholders and dignitaries including Keyamo, therefore provided both a reflection on Aero Contractors’ 67-year journey and a renewed call for strategic policies capable of keeping Nigeria competitive in the rapidly changing African aviation market.
Sanusi led the minister and other dignitaries from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, airlines, and other stakeholders in the unveiling of newly acquired equipment for its MRO operations and services.
