Panic As Aviation Fuel Scarcity Worsens

By Dipo Olowookere

The deteriorating shortage of aviation fuel, otherwise known as JET-A1, in Nigeria has caused a new apprehension among airline operators in the country.

For a while now, operators have had to deal with scarcity of the commodity, which has forced some of them to cancel their flights abruptly.

Also, the cost of purchasing the product, especially with the forex crisis in Nigeria, has made some airline operators to cut down on frequency of flight operations to some routes.

In some cases, few of them have had to buy from neighbouring countries where they can get it at cheaper rates.

According to reports, in the last 12 months, aviation fuel has steadily climbed from N104 to N240 per litre in Lagos and as high as N270 in the northern part of the country.

Due to this, several passengers are getting stranded at various airports in the country owing to the unavailability of the product.

But the Federal Government has allayed the fears of operators, disclosing that it has commenced distribution of the product.