JEM Leasing Limited owners of the owners CRJ 1000 registered with 5N-JEE to Arik Air have disassociated itself from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria ( AMCON) controlled airline in Receivership refuting ths announcement purporting that it was selling or tearing down the aircraft.
It has equally called for a criminal investigation into the Receivership describing the announcement as criminal.
The statement read, “The attention of the management of JEM Leasing Limited of the CRJ 1000 registered as 5N-JEE had been drawn to the publication purporting a decision by JEM Leasing to sell and /or tear down the aircraft.
“For the record, 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 claim.
Arik Air earlier said it has pulled the CRJ 1000 it used to operate from its fleet following the decision of JEM Leasing Limited, owners of the CRJ 1000 registered as 5N-JEE and its financiers Export Development Canada (EDC) to sell the aeroplane.
The airline in Receivership announced,”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.
