The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have announced that all of its operations would be shut down with effect from Monday, May 9, 2022, due to the high cost of aviation fuel. The price of aviation fuel, also called Jet A1, had increased from N190/litre to N360/litre in January of this year and later to N607/litre in March. The product reportedly now sells for N700/litre. The operator’s position was made known on Friday in a letter which was sent to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and signed by President, AON, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina and co-signed by top executives of Nigerian airlines.
The letter reads, “It is with a great sense of responsibility and patriotism that the Airline Operators of Nigeria has carried on deploying and subsidising their services to our highly esteemed Nigerian flying public in the last four months despite the steady and astronomical hike in the price of Jet A1 and other operating costs.
“While aviation fuel worldwide is said to cost about 40 per cent of an airline’s operating cost globally, the present hike has shut up Nigeria’s operating cost to about 95 per cent.
“In the face of this, airlines have engaged the Federal Government, the National Assembly, NNPC and oil marketers with the view to bringing the cost of Jet A1 down which has currently made the unit cost per seat for a one-hour flight in Nigeria today to an average of N120,000”.
The statement apologized to members of the public for any conveniences this recent decision might cause and also advised airline travellers to make alternative travel arrangements.
According to the statement, “While AON appreciates the efforts of the current government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure air transport in Nigeria grows, unfortunately, the cost of aviation fuel has continued to rise unabated thereby creating huge pressure on the sustainability of operations and financial viability of the airlines. This is unsustainable and the airlines can no longer absorb the pressure”.
