Stakeholders in the nation’s aviation sector have asked the Airlines Operators of Nigeria, (AON), to raise their ticket sales to meet the current reality instead of shutting down their operations over the recent hike in the price of aviation fuel, also known as, Jet-A1.
This is coming against the backdrop of AON’s insistence on going ahead with the planned shutdown of their operation.
However, AON has said with aviation fuel costing 95% operating cost of airlines, a unit cost per seat for a one-hour flight in Nigeria today will hit an average of N120,000.
However, AON, in an issued press statement, said they stood firmly by their decision to shut down operations, saying they were patriotic citizens doing all they could to protect the flying public.
According to them, shutting down operations was a collective sacrifice for the common interest of the nation, contrary to what some subjective schools of thought might suggest.
The group, in the statement, further regretted the stance of Ibom Air to pull out of the collective decision, saying they AON, however, regrets the unfortunate position taken by one of its members, Ibom Air, not to stand by the collective decision.
According to them, “While they may have their reasons for doing what they did, it is pertinent to note that they equally accepted in their statement that the Jet-A1 situation poses an “existential threat to the air transport industry in Nigeria” and that “the out-of-control situation is simply unsustainable.
“We clearly state that airlines are not on strike. We are private investors who do not run our airlines with public funds to be able to continue to pay upfront in cash at N700 per litre for Jet-A1, which
has increased our cost on daily basis to about 95%. This is totally unsustainable. And its consequences, if allowed to stay, will be borne by the passengers”.
