Posted by By UCHE USIM on
Air travellers were on Thursday subjected to endless hours of delay as airlines could not get the needed aviation fuel (Jet AI) to carry out their flight operations.
Air travellers were on Thursday subjected to endless hours of delay as airlines could not get the needed aviation fuel (Jet AI) to carry out their flight operations.
The scarcity forced airlines to cancel their flights out of Lagos. This in turn delayed passengers in other airports across the country as they could not get flights to Lagos.
The situation was worsened by the fact that most airlines are based is Lagos and as such flights originate from Lagos before connecting other states. The few operators who managed to get little quantity ripped off passengers as they were meant to pay additional fares of N2,000 which the airlines aptly called fuel surcharge.
For instance, the Lagos-Benin flight which was about N8,000 suddenly became Nl0,000.
Some passengers who got to the airport' with normal flight fares were disappointed as the ticketing officers told them of the sudden hike in fares. One of the passengers, Mrs Mary Philips said she had been on the queue of Aerocontractors to purchase her ticket to Abuja only to be told there was fuel surcharge to be paid. "I was shocked on hearing that. Why would an airline do such a thing without prior notice. This is sad", she said.
Another passenger, Paschal Emmanuel said the development has dealt a hard blow to air travelers, ca11ing on the authorities concern to look into the issue immediately .
An airline operator who spoke under the condition of anonymity said it was not the making of the airlines to increase the fares but rather in reaction to the dictates of market forces.
He said the scarcity came with a sudden hike in the pump price of Jet AI.
The scarcity, Daily Sun learnt began like a child's play in Lagos on Wednesday and when airline operators thought it would fizzle out by Thursday, they were shocked that the scarcity persisted.
The fuel suppliers were said to have run out of stock which immediately took its toll on the airlines. At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos airlines were forced to cancel the early morning flights and best case scenario was combination of flights. Consequently, hundreds of passengers were left stranded at both the international wing of the airport and at the new terminal (MMA 2). Reacting to the situation, the management of Virgin Nigeria in a statement said it was working assiduously to ensure the situation is brought under control.
"Due to the current scarcity of Aviation Fuel (Jet AI) in Lagos, Virgin Nigeria's domestic and regional flights are experiencing delays, diversions and in some extreme cases, flights have been cancelled. We are making intense efforts to ensure that we operate our optimum flight schedule under these circumstances. Nonnal flight operations will resume as soon as there is availability of aviation fuel." Also, Arik Air said it was working out modalities to bring the situation under control. The airline's spokesman, Gbemiga Ogunleye said the situation was already improving and that normal flight schedule was being operated.