The Federal Government has stated that there are no immediate solutions to the crisis currently rocking Nigeria’s aviation sector, as it claims the issues are global.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, at a meeting with officials of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), on Tuesday in Abuja, where he stated that the government was aware of the challenges, but noted that there was no immediate solution to the concerns currently.
The Federal Government had stated that although it was making efforts to address the challenges, it, however, could not disclose when the solutions to the crisis would materialise.
The operators in the industry are faced with a double whammy issue of foreign exchange scarcity and high cost of Jet A1 otherwise known as aviation fuel, which is a major component in the cost of airline operation.
What the Minister of Aviation is saying
Sirika said, “Energy crises is real and it is global. Today there is aviation fuel problem all over the world. From America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product.
“It is aggravated also because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria and the source of earning the foreign exchange has also has dwindled.’’
The minister while pointing out some of the intervention measures the federal government as it had in the past sourced 10,000 metrics tonnes of aviation fuel for domestic airlines, adding that the government was willing to do more.
He said, “As we speak, the government is in the process of finding a permanent solution to this issue.’’
On some of the solutions to the crisis in the sector, Sirika said, “importation of the product at the appropriate price, accelerating the refurbishment of our refineries and also wait for the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery to boost supply of the product.”
He, however, noted that this would not happen soon.
The minister said, “So when you ask how soon, I wouldn’t know when Dangote will come on stream, I wouldn’t know how soon the refineries will be fixed. I wouldn’t know when imports would become sufficient. But the government is working towards all these to happen.’’
What you should know
- The crisis in the aviation industry has gotten to a worrisome level as domestic airlines in Nigeria have been faced with an astronomical hike in the price of aviation fuel, with the commodity rising from N300 per litre to over N800 per litre in about 5 months.
- This has led to an unprecedented increase in airfares as well as continuous delays or flight cancellations by these domestic airlines.
Our economy is really nosediving and the economy is on autopilot. Airlines are shutting down and that’s automatically increase in unemployment rate with toughness and increase in flight fee/charges.