As part of arrangements to serve its customers better, Dana Air said it would expand its fleet to accommodate other aircraft types such as Boeing 737.
One of the directors in the group, Mr. Francis Ogboro, disclosed this yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, during the airline’s inaugural flight after the June 3, 2012 crash at Iju Ishaga, Lagos, insisting that there was nothing wrong with the ill-fated MD 83 aircraft as about 900 of them were still in use in the global aviation industry.
“We are expanding our fleet. It is not impossible that we will bring in some other aircraft types as well. Hopefully, in the next six months we will bring in some new aircraft, maybe the 737s,’’ he said.
On the aviation minister’s directive that Dana must complete the payment of compensation to families of the crash victims within the next two months, he said, “Payment of insurance will not come from our own pockets. We are fully insured, and the insurance companies, led by Lloyds of London, have made adequate arrangement to pay all the families who lost loved ones in the crash.”
He revealed that about 90 per cent of the victims had been paid the initial 30 per cent insurance claims while some are yet to show up with their documentations, probably due to their religious beliefs, or they still have issues with DNA results.
He said that as at two weeks ago, only eight of the families of the 153 passengers on board had submitted the required documents for the remaining 70 per cent of the insurance claims.
“If after two months payments have not been made, it is not because Dana’s insurance has not come up with the money to pay, it’s because the claimants have not fulfilled the requirements for claiming their monies,” Ogboro said.
On the individuals on ground when the crash occurred, he said they would be compensated, but the insurance firms would have to investigate to ensure that claims were not falsified.