From Isaac Job, Uyo
Ibom Air has lamented spending N7.6 million on aviation fuel per flight and has threatened to suspend operations as the cost of aviation fuel increases daily.
A statement signed by the Group Manager for Marketing and Communications, Mrs Ani Essienette, and made available to journalists in Uyo, stated that the cost of fuelling an aircraft had skyrocketed between January and April.
The statement reads in part:
“The fuel price situation is an unprecedented crisis for Nigeria’s domestic airlines.
“At Ibom Air, the cost of fuelling our aircraft has more than tripled between January and today.
“From an average of N2.1m per flight in January, as at today, the 27th of April, we are paying approximately N7.6m to fuel every flight.”
Essienette said the increment represents more than a 350 per cent rise since March within the space of seven weeks, although Ibom Air’s aircraft remain the most fuel-efficient in the domestic market.
She said the management of the airline is surprised that the price of aviation fuel continues to increase in Nigeria, contrary to global trends, noting that fuel marketers obtain 95 per cent or more of their aviation fuel from the Dangote Refinery.
“At this point, domestic airlines are baffled at why the price of aviation fuel in Nigeria has ballooned to this level, way above the rest of the world, while the fuel marketers obtain 95% or more of their aviation fuel from Dangote Refinery.
“The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a combination of competitive pressures and patriotism have prevented a commensurate increase in our fares, meaning that we and our fellow domestic airlines have had to absorb the immense operating losses resulting from this situation.
“We chose to do this believing that the crisis would pass in a week or two, but it has persisted now for nearly two months, continuously increasing, with no reprieve in sight as at today.
“While we continue to do everything we can to maintain normal operations, it is clear to us that the current conditions are unsustainable.
“We note that, worldwide, where fuel price increases are nowhere near what we are facing in Nigeria, airlines are reducing flights to manage the situation.”
She said that if the price of aviation fuel continues to soar, the management of the airline will resort to reducing capacity to cater for customers or may shut down completely.
“We, too, will have to take whatever ameliorating actions we can in the days ahead, including reducing our capacity if necessary, to be able to continue to provide services to our customers and our country. We also note that, if this situation persists much longer, airlines will not be able to continue operating just to pay for fuel and nothing else.”
Essienette, therefore, appealed to aviation fuel marketers to reconsider the prices to enable the airline business model to continue to work in Nigeria.
“We call on the fuel marketers to seriously reconsider the pricing of aviation fuel to make the airline business model continue to work in Nigeria.”
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