Arik air has disclosed payment of N30 billion to the federal inland revenue, and other aviation agencies.

Mr Chris Ndulue, the company’s managing director who made the disclosure explained that the amount covers payment for services rendered by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency ( NAMA),  remittances for ticket sales to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

He said the airline would continue to contribute its quota to the development transport  despite the operational challenges in the sector .

Ndulue spoke against the backdrop of the listing of Arik Air among the top one hundred companies in Nigeria by the Federal Government.

He said the airline  feels honoured to be listed among over three million companies selected by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment.

Ndulue said Arik Air is the youngest of the companies honoured by government for its contributions to national development .

The award he said will give more confidence to Arik Air partners both at  home and abroad.

He spoke of plans by the airline to fine tune its operations next year by expansion into oil and gas ancillary services.

Ndulue said the airline’s listing among one hundred companies in Nigeria would spur it to expand its regional and intercontinental operations to enable it serve its growing market .

He said part of the expansion into oil and gas operations is to provide shuttle flights for major organisations operating on the Lagos- Warri and Escravos routes.

The Arik Air boss said the airline qualified for the listing among the first one hundred companies in the country because the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment and other organisers of the award considered the size of its business as well as contribution to national economic development .

He said: “The selection process put a lot of things into consideration . The scale of operations of the businesses of the companies listed, their contribution to the gross domestic product and their value addition to the Nigerian economic development.

“These I think were factors that guided the selection for Arik Air to be listed among the first one hundred companies .

They also considered employment generation and contribution to government revenue . I think in the last eight years Arik Air has paid over thirty billion to government agencies for services rendered .

“These agencies include aviation agencies . The money covers the relevant charges for our operations, as well as taxes where applicable .

Since we  started operations in the last eight years we have made sound contributions to the development of aviation in Nigeria .

This is part of what stood us out. We will continue to contribute to national development. This will give more confidence to our partners both at home  and abroad .”

He further said :”We will continue to grow the business , we are encouraged , as a young company, we are still at the growth stage . We will make more progress and get more benefits for the award .

“We expect some growth in our business , by expanding our regional and international operations . We are looking at few options in the domestic sector, we intend to connect some routes with the use of our Q400 aircraft . The aircraft is suited for operations tied to oil and gas .

“We want to demonstrate that we can improve our operations through customer experience .

We do not need new operators to make relevant changes in our operations .we want to improve efficiencies in all areas of our operations .this we have been working on in the past two years .

“We are encouraged by this award . We expect some growth in our business in 2015. We are hoping to expand our operations , and look at expansion in oil and has operations by supporting companies to fly to Lagos to Warri and Escravos .

“We are looking at on time performance . We want to improve on that and consolidate customer service . This is key because we are becoming aware that customer satisfaction is very important .

The only competition is from old operators . We intend to increase efficiency in all key areas .

We are looking at fine tuning our operations in every aspect to make Arik Air  the airline to beat .”He stressed that Arik Air will continue to strive to ensure that it transforms air transportation not only in Nigeria but the whole of the African continent. “This was the reason why we decided to change the old order in 2006 by operating brand new aircraft thus becoming the first operator of new aircraft in Nigeria in almost two decades.

“This a call to do more and we at Arik Air will continue to improve on those qualities that have earned us this recognition because we believe that our best is yet to come. In the months ahead, we are going to be launching new routes as we strive to consolidate our position as the first choice for air travel within Nigeria and other destinations we serve in Africa, Europe and America,” the Managing Director stressed.

Ndulue commended its passengers for their support in the last eight years .

He said :”We are very grateful to our passengers for this continued patronage that has taken us to this level .

Our passengers have supported us this far they owe the credit for whatever we have achieved  in the past eight years .

“What is most delightful about our being listed among the top one hundred companies is that we are the youngest company in the whole list of over three million companies profiled .

Apart from the youngest company in that category , we are also operating in the aviation industry , which    known to be very challenging .

“To be able to get this kind of landmark achievement  within eight years is not a small feat .

Part of the credit should go our passengers and employees , who have contributed to this award .

“To be able to get this in eight years is very remarkable to overcome the challenge. There are a lot people who have laboured to grow this company within the last eight years overcoming all the challenges is not easy .”