UPDATED: Chanchangi Airlines Chairman has just been confirmed Dead

Report reaching us from a family member of the Chairman of Chanchangi Airlines, Amadu Chanchangi reveals that he is dead, he was said to have died on his way to hospital in Abuja earlier today.

“He died along the road while we were rushing him to a hospital in Abuja, after a protractive illness.”

“He will be buried by 2pm today (Wednesday) according to Islamic rights at the Bashama road cemetery,” another family source added.

Notable public figures like; a former member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, the deputy Senate leader, and Mohammed Ali, , were some of the sympathizers seen at the Chachangi home to pay tribute to the dead chairman
The late business mogul is believed to be survived by three wives and about 33 chidren, among whom Rufai Chanchangi, a member of the House of representative.

The airline was established on 5 January 1994 by Alhaji Chanchangi and started flight operations to and from Kaduna, Lagos, Owerri, Abuja and Port Harcourt on 2 May 1997. Services were operated using Boeing 727-200 aircraft, 3 Boeing 737-200 aircraft and 2 Boeing 737-300 aircraft were also acquired in 2009. Chanchangi Airlines won the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Corporate Merit Award for “Best Domestic Airline of the Year” for 1998, 1999 and 2000.

In 2004 it obtained route authorities for services to Abidjan, Accra, Dakar, Douala and Malabo. On 26 March 2006 services from Lagos to Accra were introduced, but have currently been suspended. The airline is owned by Alhaji Ahmadu Chanchangi (94%) and four other individuals holding a 1% stake each. It has 780 employees (at March 2007).

The Nigerian government set a deadline of April 30, 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded, in an effort to ensure better services and safety. The airline satisfied the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s criteria in terms of re-capitalization and was re-registered for operation.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded Chanchangi Airlines on July 5, 2010, citing a regulation that no airline can operate with only one aircraft in service, which was the case with Chanchangi at the time of its closure. On October 21, 2010, Chanchangi Airlines resumed operations between Lagos and Abuja.

Chanchangi Airlines, failed to appear on April 1, 2012, to defend itself against charges filed against it by Ethiopian Airlines failing to settle a 14 million Br bill for maintenance services. Due to this its plane has been grounded at Bole International Airport where some analysts have predicted failure to make payment will lead Ethiopian Airlines to auction the aircraft.

The airline has had its own share of incident, One of Chanchangi Airlines Boeing 727s crash landed (with a landing gear problem) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on 29 December 2004 after a flight from Port Harcourt. The 81 people on board were uninjured and there was no major damage to the plane. As a result, the remaining 5 Boeing 727s were grounded to enable investigators to carry out in depth inspections on the aircraft. On 3 January 2005 the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) permitted the resumption of full flight operations.