There is palpable fear among operators in the aviation industry over scarcity of aviation fuel also known as Jet A1, even as one of the major marketers of the product; Sahara Energy has attributed the scarcity to the increase in landing cost of the product.
Depot Manager of the Sahara Energy Depot at Ikeja, Mr. Tokunbo Oguntowo told Shipping Position Daily correspondent last week that aviation fuel is not in circulation as it ought to and that this is because there has been an increase in landing cost.
There is palpable fear among operators in the aviation industry over scarcity of aviation fuel also known as Jet A1, even as one of the major marketers of the product; Sahara Energy has attributed the scarcity to the increase in landing cost of the product.
Depot Manager of the Sahara Energy Depot at Ikeja, Mr. Tokunbo Oguntowo told Shipping Position Daily correspondent last week that aviation fuel is not in circulation as it ought to and that this is because there has been an increase in landing cost.
Our correspondent gathered that marketers had started increasing the price of the product from about N156 per litre to N160, a situation that has caused airline operators to ration flight schedules. Some of the airline operators have equally lamented the delays in getting the product and they blamed the situation on the Apapa-Oshodi traffic gridlock.
But speaking with our correspondent, Oguntowo stated that, “the situation has been like that since the beginning of this year, it’s just that we have been trying to meet up with the demands of the airlines, the truth is that the landing cost of the product has increased, the product is not that available and everybody is just scrambling to get the little they can get”
Even though he could not ascertain how long the scarcity might linger, he assured that his company is already working expecting a major shipment of JET A1 this week. He pointed out that one of the major factors that determines the landing cost is the international market price of the crude oil.
Already, Shipping Position Daily learnt that the scarcity has affected has paralyzed flight operations in Nigeria, leading to delays and cancellation of flights.
Also, the non-availability of the product which started biting harder last week has forced passengers to wait as long as seven hours before being airlifted, while flights to some destinations were cancelled due to the inability of the airlines to source the product.
The Deputy Managing Director and Head of Flight Operations at Arik Air, Captain Ado Sanusi, who confirmed the scarcity, said that the airline expends about 150,000 to 200,000 liters of fuel on its domestic and regional operations, making it difficult under the present scarcity to source this volume of the product so the airline decided to ration fuel to ensure it operates and airlifts all its passengers.
Sanusi said "Arik still sources its fuel from the fuel depots in Apapa, Lagos and because of the traffic gridlock in that part of the city, bringing the product to the airport is further delayed by traffic and when it is discharged at its facility it is allowed to settle before the bowsers take the product to the airplanes to fuel.
"This process causes a lot of delay and that explains why flights are delayed for a long time."
He said the marketers had started increasing the price of the product from about N156 per litre to N160 and called on the authorities concerned to build pipelines from Apapa to the airport so that the traffic jam on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway would be reduced.
Sanusi also said the pipeline would reduce the risk of transporting the product by road in view of the current terror threat in Nigeria, adding that if the product is piped, it would reduce its cost.
"We are rationing our flights because of the scarcity which has lasted seven days. The scarcity has given rise to delay of flights because we make sure we airlift all our passengers. This is why we said that they should build pipelines from Apapa where the fuel is sourced to the airport so that it will be easy to move the product and also prevent a possible attack on these tankers. It will also reduce the traffic gridlock on Apapa road. Flights are delayed because it takes time to get this product and when we empty it in our facility; we allow it to settle before using the bowser to distribute to the aircraft."
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