United States’ Flight Source International has formed a partnership with its Nigerian counterpart, Avon Heli System West Africa Limited, to establish a helicopter and aircraft maintenance hangar in Nigeria.

According to Avon Heli’s Chief Executive Officer, Ajayi Aremu, both firms are already studying the helicopter market in preparation for the establishment of the hangar which would be an extension of the Flight Source’s current hangar in Florida, USA.

“We are looking to set up a helicopter and aircraft hangar here in Nigeria. We want to see how thing go in Nigeria. In Florida, we have a hangar there with almost 50 engineers. The workforce there is around 300, from pilots to engineers, because we also sell helicopters. We have chartered flights within the US and outside the US, but not here in Nigeria,” Aremu said.

“We are actually looking if Nigeria is ready to come in with investments or bringing the services, the engineers, even the pilots here. We are also looking at students from the universities who have interest in being aircraft engineers; they can also walk in without paying a dime if we set up a hangar; it is for them to learn and they can get paid and start work.”

Speaking on the need to tap into the nation’s helicopters market, Aremu said there is need for Nigerian banks to participate directly in the financing of aircraft and helicopters, rather than leaving it to foreign financial institutions.

“We work with Zenith Bank and they have some arrangements with some international banks about how to finance the purchase for Nigerian buyers only if they have a letter of guarantee from the bank that they can at least stand for the payment for the aircraft to be made. What I want from the Nigerian banks is to buy these aircraft outright and give them to the airlines that want them. If it is for seven years payment, the bank tells you, for instance, that every month, you pay $7,000 and the interest on it is 3 percent. Every month, you keep paying that and for seven years, you are done with the payment.”

He also canvassed for the need to make moves that could lead to the establishment of more helicopter training schools in the country which he said will help address the effect of the high shortage of helicopter pilots in Nigeria.