Due to the near total scarcity of
aviation fuel to run the aircraft of
the various domestic carriers,
thousands of air travellers were left
stranded across airports in Nigeria
on Saturday.
Our correspondent gathered that
the two largest domestic carriers in
Nigeria, Arik Air and Aero
Contractors, cancelled all their
flights in Nigeria as a result of the
scarcity of JetA1, otherwise known
as aviation fuel.
At the Abuja airport, many
passengers, who arrived the Abuja
airport with the intention of
travelling out of the city, had their
flights cancelled.
Frustrated by the development,
many of them left the airport in
anger.
“Surely, Buhari has loads of work to
do because this country is almost
drowning economically and
otherwise, especially when both
Nigerian citizens and foreigners are
trapped in one location due fuel or
JetA1 scarcity,” were the words of a
visibly angry traveller at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, who
gave his name as Dr. Gandi Bello.
Our correspondent gathered that
the situation may not improve
anytime soon because of the
ongoing industrial action
embarked upon by tanker drivers
across the country.
Tanker drivers bring JetA1 to a
designated station for airlines for
collection. The strike has made it
impossible to get the product at
the designated collection outlet.
Spokespersons of Arik and Aero told
our correspondent that fuel scarcity
would not have affected the
airlines if the country had pipelines
which deliver JetA1 to airports, as is
obtainable in other climes.
Banji Ola of Arik Air, said the airline
cancelled its domestic flights
nationwide, but was still operating
international flights.
He said, “We had to cancel our
domestic flights because of lack of
aviation fuel to run the aircraft. Our
international flights are still
running. We had a case of an
international flight to London
travelling to Kano to refuel before
heading for its destination.”
Aero Contractors spokesperson, Mr.
Simon Tumba, stated that the
airline’s flights were also cancelled
due to aviation fuel challenges.
After series of enquiries, the airline,
in a statement made available to
our correspondent, said, “Due to
the general scarcity of aviation fuel
(JetA1) in the country, the airline
(Aero) will not be able to operate
over 80 per cent of her domestic
flights as scheduled.
“In the last few weeks, the supply
of aviation fuel has been very
irregular, which has compelled the
airline to cancel some flights. We
apologise to our esteemed
customers for the inconvenience
they may have been experiencing
due to flight delays and
cancellations caused by the scarcity
of aviation fuel.”
The airline’s reaction showed that
it was also unsure of some future
flights of its customers and urged
prospective travellers on Aero to
confirm their trips online.
It said, “We urge our customers to
always check our website or
contact the call centre agent to
affirm if their scheduled flight will
operate.
“Aero regrets any inconvenience
the changes will cause. All
measures are being made to
ameliorate the situation and revert
to her regular flight schedule. We
hope that the situation improves
very soon.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
