Aviation Fuel Scarcity: Passengers stranded at Airports across Nigeria

As the ongoing scarcity of aviation fuel, otherwise known as called Jet-A1 continues to bite harder, passengers were stranded at airports across the country on Monday.

It was gathered that the scarcity of the product had resulted in the delay or outright cancellation of some of their flights across the country.

Checks at the domestic terminals of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos show that many airlines were forced to either cancel or reschedule most of their flights due to the scarcity of aviation fuel, thus, leaving many intending travelers stranded.

Punch reports that as at 5pm, stranded passengers heading for Abuja from the Lagos airport were unable to book substitute flights as all flights to the Federal Capital Territory had been fully booked.

Arik Air announced that it was struggling with flight schedule disruptions due to the sternness of the situation across the country.

It stated that since the beginning of the year, the country had been battling with inadequate supply of aviation fuel leading in most cases to severe shortage of the product and consequently the disruption of flight operations.

According to the carrier, for the past week, it has had to face another round of aviation fuel scarcity, which got worse over the weekend, leading to many flight delays and cancellations.

The airline operates an average of 120 daily flights requiring about 500,000 litres of fuel each day.

Arik stated, “Due to the large number of domestic and international flights, it is the most impacted by the inability of oil marketers to meet its daily fuel requirements on a timely and consistent basis. This has forced the airline to postpone flights, while waiting for the fuel marketers to source and deliver the product.

“On many occasions, despite all efforts in engaging the marketers if fuel cannot be sourced, the flights may eventually be cancelled, causing not only revenue loss for the airline, but also inconveniencing or stranding the passengers.”

It added, “There is also a distribution challenge as the discharging of vessels bringing Jet-A1 and other petroleum products are done in the same Jetty, and loading various trucks for distribution to cities like Kano or Abuja takes considerable effort and time.”