HUSHED plans to rebrand Arik Air and rename the carrier, Nigeria Eagle ( NG Eagle) may have been concluded as Nigerianflightdeck have sighted one of the airline’s aircraft undergoing paint job with a new livery.
In February, our reporter had gotten hold of a prototype of the livery which shows the new logo of an eagle branded on the aircraft’s engine, tail painted in green colour, with s touch of grey and the moniker NG Eagle boldly written on the starboard.
Insider sources also state that the Nigerian Eagle transform is been on the burner a while but is driven by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and since they control the airline they are calling the shots in that regard
Although efforts to reach AMCON spokesman Jude Nwauzor on when this is hsppening were abortive, it is on record that the AMCON chief Executive, Ahmed Kuru in recent times have called for Arik to be made a national carrier under the grounds that it is not only cheaper to government but has all it takes to set it up.
Kuru in 2019 made similar calls to the National Assembly and publicly when Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika started his national carrier drive argued that it would cost less
According to him, a new carrier would cost Federal Government a fortune, but Arik is already set and has enough aircraft and facilities that can be used to set up a new airline and if the government wants to.
This plea has met immediate resistance
from the Sirika who had in 2017 laid the foundation for Nigeria Air, which is yet to get an Air Operators Certificate ( AOC) or take any concrete form despite promises that that would happen in 2018 by the former Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) DG.
Arik Air is one of the few airlines including Aero Contractors and Afrijet which the asset managers control and this transformation may be a move to restrategize all of AMCONs investment in the aviation sub-sector.
The industry still awaits the big unveil for the airline which was a trail blazer when it was established.
