Domestic airline owners, under the aegis of Airline Operators Association of Nigeria, AOAN, have made a U-turn on the 72-hour deadline threat given to the Federal Government on Monday, to shut down all domestic flights, if it fails to intervene in the aviation fuel pump price increase.
The domestic airline owners made the change of mind as a result of the quick intervention by the National Assembly Committee on Aviation, after the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had approved for airline owners to apply for a license to import aviation fuel.
The airline operators had undergone frustration when they met with members of the national assembly last week over the continuous hike in aviation fuel pump price, in the last three weeks.
The price had consistently increased by 150%.
In the last few days, the government has been engaging airline operators, fuel marketers and other related agencies to find a common ground to bring the situation under control.
The Vice President of the association, Allen Onyema, had said that the talks with airline owners, fuel marketers and other related bodies have been quite fruitful, as the parties worked round the clock to meet up with other conditions laid down by AOAN.
The rising aviation fuel pump price began increasing from N190 in January 2022 to as high as N700 per litre, as of Tuesday, March 14th, 2022.
The increasing product cost is now biting hard on air passengers, who were tempted to believe that the Federal Government had no interest in developing the oil sector
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Some key industry players are wondering if the roles played by the Federal Government and the National Assembly are enough to convince Nigerians that they are willing to resolve the hike in fuel pump price for both aviation and road transport.
Aviation fuel consumption was about 45 million gallons per day in 2020, accounting for about 6% of the total petroleum consumption globally.
In Nigeria, however, over 428 thousand barrels per day are being consumed.
The 5 countries that produce Jet A and Jet A-1 Aviation Fuel include the U.S., Netherlands, India and Japan.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
