Al 2024 is being used in aircraft industries due to its light weight and ductile nature. The autocatalytic deposition of nickel has been carried out using acetate based bath. The influences of nickel coating on tensile and flexural behaviour of aluminium are investigated using experimental methods. Potentiodynamic polarization study confirmed that the coatings offered good corrosion resistance in sea water medium. The micro hardness of the EN coated Al alloys are higher than un plated metal. SEM and XRD techniques were used to understand the surface morphology and structure of the electroless Ni-P layers. © 2014 University of Manchester and the authors.