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| Arik issued a Notice to Airmen on Saturday alerting of non-availability of the product in Lagos - Arik Air Boeing Handout |
Nigeria may experience
serious disruption to flight operations due to the acute scarcity of aviation
fuel, some operators warned yesterday
Daily
Trust report continues:
There
was a fresh resurgence of aviation fuel scarcity on Saturday leading many
flight delays and in a few instances cancellations.
However,
the last is yet to be heard of the situation as it continues to worsen, causing
flight disruptions across the country.
Checks
by Daily Trust yesterday indicated that virtually all morning flights in Lagos
were delayed by most airlines.
Arik
Air which has over 100 flights per day had alerted passengers of the severity
of Jet A1 scarcity, indicating that some flights might be cancelled.
The
airlines said the aviation fuel scarcity started manifesting last week when
major oil marketers began to ration supply of the product to airlines.
One
of the marketers, Arik said in its statement, issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM)
on Saturday alerting of non-availability of the product in Lagos.
Another
marketer said it was running out of product in Lagos with limited supplies in
Port Harcourt and Abuja.
The
airline further said the development had started taking its toll on it due to
its large scale operations, with flights being delayed across the country and
in some cases cancelled, especially for airports without airfield lighting.
One
of the airline’s flights to Johannesburg on Tuesday had to be routed via Port
Harcourt to pick up fuel.
As
a result of the worsening supply situation of aviation fuel, Arik Air announced
further reduction in flights from yesterday, November 16, to cope with the
fresh scarcity and reduce the unpleasant delays and cancellations which
passengers have experienced in recent times.
The
airline appealed for the understanding of its customers whose flights are
likely to be affected by the scarcity and scaling down of operations.
Where
flights are to be delayed or cancelled as a result of the scarcity, Arik said
it would be sending text or e-mail messages to passengers.
An
operator who spoke with Daily Trust in confidence said, “As I am talking to
you, the problem is not abating and we hope the appropriate authorities would
do something urgently to ameliorate the situation.
Efforts
to speak with some marketers like Oando and Mobil who supply Jet A1 proved
abortive but sources said the marketers were blaming the development on dollar
scarcity which has stalled seamless importation of the product.
The operators urged government to take immediate measures to avert the current severe scarcity of the fuel known as Jet A1.
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