Airline Operators To Shut Down Operations Monday (See Why)

Airline operators are to shut down operations Monday.

Glamtush reports that Airline Operators of Nigeria has announced the shutdown of its operations from Monday due to the steady increase in the cost of aviation fuel.

It was earlier reported that the airline operators had threatened to shut down their operations in March arguing that they had only three days of fuel left.

This online platform understands that the cost of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, had risen from N190/litre and later N360/litre in January this year to N607/litre in March. The product now reportedly sells for N700/litre.

The position of the operators was stated in a letter sent to the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, by its President, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina.

The letter read, “It is with a great sense of responsibility and patriotism that the Airline Operators of Nigeria has carried on deploying and subsidising their services to our highly esteemed Nigerian flying public in the last four months despite the steady and astronomical hike in the price of JetA1 and other operating costs.

“Over time, aviation fuel price has risen from N190 per litre to N700 currently. No airline in the world can absorb this kind of sudden shock from such an astronomical rise over a short period.

“While aviation fuel worldwide is said to cost about 40 per cent of an airline’s operating cost globally, the present hike has shut up Nigeria’s operating cost to about 95 per cent.

“In the face of this, airlines have engaged the Federal Government, the National Assembly, NNPC and Oil Marketers with the view to bringing the cost of JetA1 down which has currently made the unit cost per seat for a one-hour flight in Nigeria today to an average of N120,000.