Aero Contractors has called for greater government support for Nigeria’s aviation industry, warning that the country could lose jobs, investment and regional aviation opportunities if it fails to make the sector a strategic priority.
The call was made by the airline’s Managing Director, Capt. Ado Sanusi, during Aero Contractors’ 67th anniversary celebration in Lagos, where he described the airline’s survival through decades of operational and financial challenges as a story of resilience.
Speaking on the anniversary theme, “Going the Extra Mile,” Sanusi said Aero Contractors had continued operating despite periods of grounded aircraft, empty hangars, financial difficulties and months without an aircraft in the sky.
He credited the airline’s engineers, pilots, cabin crew, ground personnel and support teams with keeping the company alive through some of its most difficult periods.
Founded in 1959, Aero Contractors began as a charter and crop-spraying company before becoming an important aviation service provider to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. It later expanded into scheduled passenger operations, rotary-wing services, aircraft maintenance and pilot training.
The airline commenced scheduled passenger services in 2000, while its rotary-wing operations supported the movement of personnel and equipment to locations that were difficult to access by road.
Sanusi said the airline had also played a role in developing Nigeria’s aviation workforce through its training operations, which have produced pilots and engineers over the years.
He recalled that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria took a majority stake in Aero Contractors in 2016 when the airline was facing severe financial difficulties, describing the intervention as an important step in keeping the company alive.
He also pointed to improvements in the airline’s financial performance, saying its operating margin had moved from minus 134 per cent in 2022 to a positive operating margin by 2025.
Sanusi said the 67th anniversary should therefore be seen not only as a celebration of longevity but also as a reminder of the contribution of indigenous aviation companies to Nigeria’s economic and technical development.
He urged the government to recognise Aero Contractors as a strategic national aviation asset and create an environment that would allow the airline to continue contributing to the industry.
Turning to the wider aviation sector, Sanusi commended the Federal Government for infrastructure improvements at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, but called for aviation to receive greater strategic attention under the Renewed Hope agenda.
He argued that aviation should be treated as an economic development tool capable of supporting tourism, trade, employment and foreign investment rather than simply as a means of transportation.
Sanusi warned that Nigeria could lose aviation-related investment to neighbouring countries if it failed to respond to the rapid development of airports and maintenance infrastructure elsewhere in Africa.
He said the emergence of major airport and MRO projects in countries close to Nigeria should prompt the government to develop a coordinated strategy for protecting and expanding the country’s aviation market.
“If nothing strategic is done, we risk our airports becoming ghost structures,” he warned.
Sanusi called for a deliberate national aviation strategy focused on infrastructure, indigenous technical capacity and the competitiveness of Nigerian aviation businesses.
He said such an approach would help retain aviation jobs and investment in Nigeria while enabling local airlines and service providers to compete more effectively in the African market.
The anniversary brought together aviation stakeholders, government officials and representatives of airlines and regulatory agencies, with the event also providing an opportunity for Aero Contractors to showcase its renewed investment in aircraft maintenance and technical services.
