DAILY TRUST
There is a growing concern over the huge maintenance cost of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft, Air Force 001, which serves President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as it gulps billions of naira.
A senior official familiar with the maintenance of the presidential fleet told Daily Trust that between the routine maintenance and purchase of parts, the aircraft had been guzzling huge amounts of money.
He said it was not a new trend as that it had been going on for a while, making the erstwhile Presidential Air Fleet Commandeer, AVM AA Yaro, to recommend that it should be demobilised.
The Air Force 001 is a 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) bought during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the cost of $43m.
Boeing began the production of the BBJ in 1998, and it initially cost $36m for the unfinished aircraft. It now sells for $41m for a used one and $71m for a brand new aircraft.
While the age of an aircraft does not matter in terms of its performance, our correspondent reports that the maintenance cost increases unlike newer and more modern aircraft.
