Aviation Oil Scarcity: Airline Operators To Shut Down In 3 Days …Demand import licence from NNPC

Airline operators in Nigeria Monday threatened to shut down operations in three days if the price of aviation fuel, popularly known as Jet-A1, is not reduced.The operators also requested the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd to grant them licences to import the product in order to avert the shutdown.Chairman of Air Peace Airline, Chief Allen Onyema, made the call at a stakeholders’ meeting with the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, on Monday.Onyema, who spoke on behalf of the airline operators, said aviation fuel marketers are arbitrarily increasing the product’s price which led to the skyrocketing of air ticket prices and disruptions of flights.He complained that the marketers have refused to disclose the intricacies involved in the pricing and how they arrived at the hike.He said the recent price hike to over N500 started in January 2022 from its initial price.Onyema expressed fear that any further hike in the Jet A-1, there may be an increase in the airline ticket to about N120,000.He added that, apart from the high cost of aviation fuel, airline operators are paying threefold of what other airlines pay as insurance in other climes.Onyema added that since they can buy aircraft that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, they also have the money to import aviation fuel.In his opening remarks, Hon. Wase had expressed disappointment over the failure of the NNPC and the marketers to bring down the price as agreed in the last meeting.He alleged that the two parties were using unnecessary technical terms to confuse the House over the issue.In his presentation, the NNPC GMD, Engr. Mele Kyari informed that at least 19 companies have stock of aviation fuel, but the pricing still remains a matter of contention between the companies and airline operators