Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation has disclosed that the cause of the major challenge in Nigeria’s aviation sector is a global issue, and that Nigerian government is making efforts to address the challenges. Sirika who made the disclosure at a meeting with officials of the Airline Operators of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday revealed reasons why there are no immediate solutions to the current crisis rocking the industry. He admitted that the Federal Government could not tell the stakeholders as to when the solutions to the crisis would materialise. Airlines in Nigeria have been faced with a stiff challenge posed by the hike in the price of aviation fuel, popularly called JetA1 as cost of the commodity has jumped from less than N300/litre to over N800/litre within five months. The hike has led to an increase in airfares by airlines that could manage to get the commodity, while others that could not survive the situation have temporarily suspended operations. Airlines that currently operating have continued to delay or cancel flights due to difficultly in accessing JetA1, a development that has caused untold hardship to travelers. According to Sirika, “Energy crisis is real and it is global.
Today there is aviation fuel problem all over the world; from America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we don’t produce the product.” He said the crisis has aggravated because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria and the source of earning the foreign exchange has also has dwindled. On how soon the situation would be resolved, he said: “So when you ask how soon, I wouldn’t know when Dangote will come on stream, I wouldn’t know how soon the refineries will be fixed. I wouldn’t know when imports would become sufficient. But the government is working towards all these to happen.” The minister said he would meet with relevant stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria so that the airlines could access forex at the official rate rather than the black market price. Abdulmunaf Sarina, President, AON, said the aviation fuel crises began from N180/litre, but had now jumped to N1000/litre, as he added that accessing forex crises was a huge burden on the Industry. He said. “The rate at which the dollar is escalating now is very alarming. Everyday, a difference between of N10 to N15 Naira is added at the parallel market. Last week Monday, it was N610 but today it is N670 to one dollar. Allen Onyema, Vice President, AON, said the airlines were satisfied with the government intervention in the industry, but admitted the solution to the crisis is not in the short term.
