Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa) has reportedly rejected an offer from the state-owned Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to take over management of struggling Arik Air (W3, Lagos) reports Business Day Online. AMCON recently took over Arik Air following mounting financial and operational issues, but has no interest in managing the airline in the long term. Founder of Arik Air, Joseph Arumeni-Ikhide, was strongly opposed to the Nigerian airline being taken over by Ethiopian, saying that he would launch a legal challenge if it did so. "Arik Air needs about NGN1.6 billion (USD5 million) to buy fuel for international routes. We need to emphasise one fact – that the only way we can recover our debts is for Arik Airline to continue to fly."

Source: Ethiopian News February 22, 2017 11:37 UTC