Nigerian carrier, Chanchangi Airlines (5B), having resumed operations in December last year, is now set to acquire new aircraft under the auspices of the aviation intervention fund as provided for by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).
The funds, sourced from Nigeria's Unity Bank, will be used to source "at least 4 aircraft in the next six months," with two 737-300/400 models set to arrive in the next six weeks.Group General Manager Mr John Disley, said as the “peoples’ carrier”, Chanchangi will soon acquire additional aircraft to boost its operations, affirming that its officials will continue to promote safety and security as the selling point of its flight in over a decade that it had operated flights in the Nigerian airspace.
Source [The Nation]
Recently, Mr Disley also called for the establishment of maintenance hangar facilities in the country "to reduce cost of carrying out checks on aircraft outside the country."
Source [ThisDay]"If we have maintenance facilities in Nigeria, it will be cheaper to carry out maintenance in the country and this will go a long way in reducing the money we spend on maintenance. As at present, to do a C-Check on a Boeing 737 start from $500, 000 and above.
The cost largely depends on the level of C-check an operator wants to do, but if we are doing this in Nigeria, the cost would have reduced by 40 per cent because we pay for a lot of things abroad".
Chanchangi currently carries out its maintenance checks in South Africa and Belgrade.