Azman Air has halted its flight operations and has requested its employees to take leave without pay.


Azman Air has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend flight operations and has asked its staff to take unpaid leave.

Azman Airline has temporarily suspended its flight operations due to ongoing C-checks on all its Boeing 737 aircraft and the high cost of operations.

A reliable source, who requested anonymity, disclosed that the airline made this decision after two of its aircraft were sent to a maintenance facility in Turkey for C-checks. However, due to a long queue at the hangar, the aircraft will not be ready for some time.

The two other aircraft are scheduled for maintenance, while the third has reached 90% completion and is expected to return to the country by October.

In the meantime, the airline has issued an internal memo titled “Placement of Leave Without Pay” to its staff members, signed by the Human Resources Manager, Magaji Misau. The memo directs staff to take unpaid leave.

The source, while elucidating the recent developments, indicated that the airline is encountering financial challenges due to insufficient revenue. Consequently, placing employees on unpaid leave was deemed necessary as a cost-cutting measure.

Since March, the airline’s operations have been intermittent, occasionally involving a single aircraft. Given these challenging circumstances, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend domestic operations until we can rectify our internal situation,” the spokesperson stated.

There are no plans to hire additional staff as the airline intends to re-engage its current employees once the situation improves. However, we have not yet determined a specific date for the resumption of operations.

Since March, we have been operating intermittently and have consistently paid salaries to our employees. However, the financial burden has become unsustainable due to the lack of revenue, leading to the decision to temporarily suspend operations.

In the meantime, some Nigerian customers have expressed concerns regarding flight cancellations and difficulties in obtaining refunds from Azman Air.

According to the source, the airline has prioritized the processing of payments for individuals who have submitted refund requests, with the intention of completing these transactions upon their return to operations.

They are actively addressing this matter and are committed to ensuring that all eligible customers receive their refunds. "We are currently focused on fulfilling the refund requests we have received," he stated.

Refunds will be issued to those who have formally applied for them. In the event of a flight cancellation, customers are required to complete a refund form to initiate the process.

Only those who submit this form will be eligible for a refund. The airline has expressed its commitment to settle all outstanding payments, and they anticipate resolving these issues upon their return.