Special to USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet.
Nigeria’s domestic airlines to shut down operations from May 9.
The daily escalation of the costs of operating airlines and related logistics especially the high cost of aviation fuel (which shot past N190 to N700 naira per litre, have combined to force domestic operators to, collectively, announce that they have decided to shut down operations from Monday May 9, 2022 — “until further notice.”
“To this end therefore, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON)… regrettably inform the general public that member airlines will discontinue operations nationwide….” According to Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, President of the AON “we regret any inconveniences this very difficult decision might cause and appeal to travelers to kindly reconsider their travel itinerary and make alternative arrangements.”
The statement issued and signed by all the airline operators stated: ” It is with a great sense of responsibility and patriotism that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have carried on deploying and subsidizing their services to our highly esteemed Nigerian flying public in the last four months despite the steady and astronomical hike in the price of JetA1 and other operating costs.”
“Overtime, aviation fuel price (JetA1) has risen from N190 per litre to N700 currently. No airline in the world can absorb this kind of sudden shock from such an astronomical rise over a short period. While aviation fuel worldwide is said to cost about 40% of an airline’s operating cost globally, the present hike has shut up Nigeria’s operating cost to about 95%.”
”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 JetA1 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 latter cannot be fully passed to passengers who are already experiencing a lot of difficulties.”
“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.”
USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com analyses show that the economic problems and widespread insecurities across Nigeria have rendered road transportation very dangerous. Gunmen, terrorists and bandits have killed or kidnapped thousands of Nigerians on its dilapidated highways, railways and barely constructed roads. By Chido Nwangwu @Chido247
