Arik Strengthens Partnership with Bombardier

Arik Airline

Chinedu Eze

President and Chief Executive Officer of Bombardier, Perre Beaudoin, has said that the company intends to sell more of its aircraft in Nigeria by utilising the good partnership it has with Arik Air, which started scheduled commercial operation with new Bombardier aircraft, CRJ 900 in 2006.

Beaudoin, who spoke to journalists in Lagos during the recent facility tour of Arik headquarters, said the airline is Nigeria’s most promising carrier, which has well-articulated programme as a commercial airline, just as the airline disclosed that by March 19, it would sign agreement with Lufthansa to start the building of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangar in Lagos.
The Bombardier President also said that the aircraft manufacturing company also has other partners in the country who operate private Bombardier jets.

“We have a lot of partners in Nigeria, first of all, private aeroplane operators, but most importantly Arik Air; we are beginning to find out that it is an extraordinary airline and I promised Mr. Joseph (Arumemi –Ikhide, Chairman, Arik Air)  we shall visit and that is what I’m doing today.”

He said that Bombardier manufactures regional aircraft, which could be of immense benefit for inter-city destinations in various parts of Africa and because of the aircraft’s fuel economy and comfort, airlines like Arik Air could maximise its domestic and regional operations with Bombardier regional jets.

“With the feedback I get from our customer, Arik Air, people love CRJ 900. It is a very quiet airplane, very comfortable; it flies smoothly through turbulence. The feedback I get both for CRJ 900 and Q400 is very appreciated by the customers.

“I think we are on the way; of course others may have brand recognition but with time as we are adding airplanes in this country and most importantly we are making regional connections, I think people will love the fact that they are making very short flights and getting to your destinations without having to connect to other flights.

“We started a partnership at the very beginning with Arik Air and we were involved with the CRJ 900; then we brought the Q400 with a vision to provide safe flying in Nigeria and connecting the regions, which is what Arik is doing very well. We are very proud to be their partner and we want to do more in the future.”

On a developing major market in Africa, Beaudoin said that the continent is a very interesting market for Bombardier because “what I see is both in Nigeria where Arik Air is in the front of the market, developing the regional network, but I see that in Africa in general, there is not enough connections and Bombardier is world leader in regional airplanes.

“So for me, I am very excited because I can provide the tool that people in Africa are looking for to connect key cities together and avoid the long flight to go to very short distances,” he added.
The Chairman of Arik Air, Joseph Arumemi–Ikhide, disclosed during the facility tour that on the airline would sign an agreement with Lufthansa for the building of MRO facility in Nigeria where Nigerian airlines and others would carry out maintenance checks on their aircraft.

“Right now, on March 19 we will be at Hamburg (Germany) to sign an agreement with Lufthansa on the construction of maintenance hangar. Bombardier is buying into it and also Boeing. This hangar you see (at Arik Air headquarters) is going to be rebuilt and it is going to be manned by Lufthansa and it will be for C Check, not only for Arik, but for all the airlines. It will provide service for modern aircraft.”

On the visit of Bombardier President to Nigeria, he said the management of Arik Air was happy to receive Beaudoin, noting that his visit was an indication that Arik Air and Bombardier have strong partnership, which would continue to grow stronger as the two companies deepen their business.

“We are very happy that Bombardier is here. They were the initiator of Arik Air. They were here at the beginning. They gave us the opportunity of bringing new airplane in Nigeria after over 25 years we had new aircraft. So it is good for the President of Bombardier to come and see what he helped to create in Africa. This is a better assistance from the people of Canada which they gave to Nigeria through Bombardier.”

Arumemi–Ikhide said that Arik Air would buy more Bombardier CRJ 900, Q400 and C series as it expands and adds more local and regional routes.

“Yes, we will buy more CRJ 900 as you know the aircraft is loved by our countrymen. It has helped us to develop routes. We go to new routes like Gombe, Katsina and Ibadan. We always use the CRJ as the forerunner, even in Asaba; it has been very successful. It is very stable in the weather; very comfortable.

“We are looking forward to discussing about getting more, the CRJ 1000 and of course more of the Q400 and in future we think of getting the C series. Bombardier products are very good. That’s why we said that rather than go the other way, government should look at Bombardier rather than other products,” he added.