Arik Air ends wet lease agreement with Denim Air; to use new Q400s

Arik Air and Denim Air ended an agreement by which the Dutch lessor had provided a fleet of turboprop aircraft and crew to the airline. The arrangement for wet lease operations terminated on the natural expiration of the contract. The agreement, in place since 2007, provided Arik Air with three Dash 8-Q300 and two Fokker 50 turboprop aircraft as well as crews, maintenance staff and services, enabling the airline to initiate services and increase capacity on low-density routes, on routes where multiple daily frequencies were required and on routes where airports had short runways, such as Port Harcourt (NAF Base) and Warri. Arik Air has deployed two recently acquired new Bombardier Q400 aircraft on routes that previously were served using the Denim Air aircraft. [more]