Scarcity of aviation fuel: Airline operators to shut down in three days

Local airlines in Nigeria have said they have only 3 days from today to shutdown operations over lack of aviation fuel.

This was as the aviation fuel marketers have failed to convince the House of Representatives on why the prices of the product are hitting the rooftops on daily basis.

At the moment, the airlines are buying the fuel at N670 from normal price of 190 recently.

Speaking before the special House Committee investigating the unavailability of the product with the aim of proffering solutions, the airlines represented by the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Airpeace, Mr. Allen Onyema said that they cannot afford the fuel anymore.

He said that if they were to continue flying, an average Nigerian will spend N120, 000 for an economy ticket.

In their presentation, the oil markers said high dollar rate was responsible for the high cost of the fuel.

Asked by the Deputy Speaker of the House who chaired the committee of how much they purchased the dollar and which banks, the representatives of the marketers could not give an answer.

He therefore warned against blackmailing the government.

On his part, the Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari said that at the moment there were 19 oil companies with 88 million litres of aviation fuel in the country.

The meeting is currently ongoing in the House of Representatives.

Details later: