The Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has said that it would engage some foreign airline operators to manage Arik Airline which it took over recently.

Speaking during a session with the House of Representatives aviation committee in Abuja, the Managing Director of AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, said the agency had gone far in talks with the foreign airlines and that the deal would be concluded soon.

AMCON last week took over the management of Arik Air following the airline’s inability to pay back a debt of N135 billion among other issues.

The committee, chaired by Rep Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (PDP, Abia), expressed fears that Arik may suffer same fate as Aero Contractors saying despite AMCON’s take-over of Aero, it still went underground.

Onyejeocha said there were also fears that AMCON’s take-over of Arik was part of a grand plan to convert the airline to a national carrier, an allegation that Kuru dismissed.

Kuru told the lawmakers that AMCON had no option than to take over the airline because a lot of issues were raised, including non-payment of staff salaries and contractors’ entitlements, poor corporate policy and governance, flight delays/cancellations, among others.