Arik Air Announces Withdrawal  of CRJ 1000 from Its Fleet

Chinedu  Eze

Arik Air has announced that it has withdrawn its aircraft, CRJ 1000 from services and claimed that it was the decision of JEM Leasing Limited, owners of the aircraft and its financier, Export Development Canada (EDC) to sell the aircraft.

But JEM Leasing Limited reacting to the announcement said that it was not party to the plan to withdraw the aircraft, sell it and tear it down, as indicated by Arik Air.

The aircraft with registration number, 5N-JEE was acquired by Arik Air (in receivership) in 2014 and it was one of the newest aircraft acquired by the airline before it was taken over by AMCON in February 2017.

Arik Air said the reason for the withdrawal of the aircraft was because the leasing company and financier decided to sell the aircraft.

“We equally wish to notify on the decision of the buyer to tear down the plane. Arik Air, as the lessee since 2014, operated the Aircraft pursuant to a lease agreement with JEM Leasing Limited. Arik discontinued operations of the CRJ fleet since 2019.

“Arik Air would like to assure all stakeholders, including passengers, partners, and the general public, that the decision by the owner and financier of the aircraft will not impact Arik’s operations or compromise its commitment to providing safe, reliable, and convenient air travel services.”

But in a swift reaction, JEM Leasing Limited issued a statement and dissociated itself from aircraft tear down.

The statement said, “The attention of the management of JEM Leasing Limited, owners of the CRJ 1000, registered as 5N-JEE has been drawn to the publication purporting a decision by JEM Leasing to sell and tear down the aircraft.

“For the records, Arik Air is the launch customer and only operator of the CRJ 1000 in Africa. JEM Leasing is not party to any arrangement with ‘Arik Air In Receivership’ for the tear down of the aircraft.

“The position of Cape Town Convention and the law of every jurisdiction is clear and incontrovertible regarding aircraft repossession and tear down. JEM Leasing dissociates itself from the purported decision and arrangements regarding the sale and tear down of this new generation CRJ 1000 aircraft  in its entirety and urge the criminal investigative authorities of Nigeria to promptly investigate this asset destruction act and the claims of Arik Air (in Receivership) with regards to this false claims.”