Aviation Fuel Price Surges Above N240 Per Litre

The price of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, on Tuesday, July 26, spiked above N240 per litre, representing 100 per cent increase from the N120 per litre price sold about this same period in 2015.

The outrageous increase  has led to the cancellations and delays of the flight schedule of domestic airlines.As scarcity recently hit the nation’s air transport  business, the price of Jet A1 jumped steadily from N120 per litre to N150, N180 and eventually steadying at N200 per litre throughout last week, Daily Sun reports.

It was learnt that the industry is reportedly losing between N300 and N500 on weekdays and weekends respectively due to the crisis caused by flight delays and cancellations.

“It’s now all about demand and supply,” an airline official told Daily Sun on the 100 per cent rise in price of Jet A1. “The depots are running out of stock and the price had been fluctuating between N170 and N200 per litre. As at yesterday, some of us bought at about N240 and N250 per litre because we just had to fly,” A spokesperson for one of the local airlines who craved anonymity said.

Three airlines, Arik Air, Dana Air and Air Peace have separately addressed the media explaining how they are grappling with flight schedule disruptions due to the severe scarcity of aviation fuel across the country.

Arik Air spokesman, Banji Ola, said:“For the past week, the airline had to face another round of aviation fuel scarcity, which got worse over this weekend leading to many flight delays and cancellations.”

“At the root of the fuel supply crisis is low stock due to the inability of marketers to get the foreign exchange to import more Jet A1 fuel into the country. This has forced airlines to postpone flights while waiting for the fuel marketers to source and deliver the product.

“On many occasions, despite all efforts at engaging the marketers of fuel, flights may eventually be cancelled causing not only revenue loss for the airline but also inconveniencing or stranding the passengers,” Ola said yesterday.

The airline industry yesterday identified supply and infrastructural challenges of the marketers as some of the key factors responsible for the epileptic supply of aviation fuel. There is also a distribution challenge as the discharging of vessels bringing Jet A1 and other petroleum products is done in the same jetty and loading various trucks for distribution to cities like Kano or Abuja take considerable effort and time.