Local airlines under the aegis of Airline Operators of
Nigeria (AON) have suspended their threat to shut down flight operations over
the outrageous hike in the price of Jet – A1 fuel.
The Vice President of AON, Mr Allen Onyema, disclosed this
in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in
Lagos.
Recall that on March 15, AON had threatened to shut down
their operations on Friday, March 18, if the government could not find a
lasting solution for the marketers to reduce the JET-A1 price.
Onyema, the Chairman of Air Peace, told NAN that airlines
collectively agreed to suspend the shutdown to avert further disruption in
economic activities considering the key role air transportation plays in the
logistic mix.
“We are not going to shut down flight operations because
discussions are ongoing between us and the relevant players in the oil and gas
value chain to find a lasting solution to the problem.
“We are negatively affected by the increasing price of
aviation fuel, but as patriotic investors, we will not take any action that
will paralyse the economy.
“As patriotic Nigerians and investors, we will continue to
engage government and its agencies on the way out of this problem,” he said.
Onyema noted that the decision taken by the local carriers
was a patriotic contribution to President Muhamadu Buhari’s led administration.
According to him, the administration is presently utilising
every instrument by engaging stakeholders in the oil and gas and air
transportation sectors to seek a permanent solution to the price hike.
The Air Peace chairman recalled that the Buhari-led
administration had contributed immensely to the development of airlines
operations in the country.
“Since the Buhari administration came on board, it has shown
sufficient commitment to improving the aviation industry.
“The President signed an Executive Order that granted
waivers on aircraft and its spares and other interventions, the least we could
do is to continue to engage until challenges in the sector are resolved,”
Onyema said.
He said the association considered very delicate the
precarious situation of aviation fuel scarcity and increment in price as a
development that could be exploited for political capital by players in the
governance space.
Onyema, however, said the price hike was suffocating for
local carriers to continue to operate flights under increasing costs regime, as
they spend millions of naira to fill an aircraft with aviation fuel.
He said airline operators were presently considering scaling
down on the number of flight frequencies to minimise the cost of operations.
Onyema said local carriers were not considering any further
increase in airfares so as not to shut out ordinary Nigerians who desire to
travel by air.
A NAN correspondent who monitored activities at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal II (MMA2) and General Aviation Terminal (GAT) terminals, reports that airlines are working and passengers are also boarding.
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