Nigerian Flight Deck Travel and Business Reportage
- Aero contractors to handle aircraft maintenance, spares; logistics
ELIN Group of Nigeria at the Dubai Air Show, has made a firm order of three Dash 8-400 turboprops worth $99 million from De Havilland Canada set to be delivered in 2020 to airlift oil and gas personnel in and out of airstrips in the Niger Delta.
The aircraft will be supported by Nigerian airline and MRO Company, Aerocontractors, in areas including maintenance, spare parts, and logistics given that the company has been operating various versions of the Dash 8 for almost 30 years.
Elin Group has diversified business interests, including real estate, power generation, agriculture, and aviation.
Elin Group’s managing director Caroline Pritheesh said,“We are in the private charter transport services sector. We’re moving on to improve the efficiency and transport services in international oil companies.
“The Dash 8-400 turboprop has been operating in Nigeria with other carriers and we have seen how this aircraft can support our diverse operational requirements.”
The company also signed a deal to make Falcon Aviation Services (FAS) of the UAE its first authorized service facility (ASF) in the Middle East.
The agreement with FAS means the company will be able to offer heavy maintenance services for the Dash 8-400 from its Abu Dhabi base. The company also operates three of the type itself and provides MRO support to five more in service with Qazaq Air in Kazakhstan.
FAS has been operating the Dash 8-400 for around five years, with its bread and butter business in the oil and gas industry.
The new ASF will be the first in the Middle East and North Africa; the nearest ASFs are currently based in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Airlines is a major user of the Dash 8-400 – and India.
“We obviously have a number of ASFs throughout the world but, with the growth in Africa and the Middle East, we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at what support network we need and have been working with FAS for a year, putting this agreement together,” said Todd Young, De Havilland Canada’s chief operating officer.
