Fuel scarcity: FG yet to respond to Airline operators’ demands – Ibom Air

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

Following the suspension of a planned shutdown of operations by Airline operators, the General Manager, Marketing and Communications, Ibom Air, Aniekan Essienette, has said that the federal government is yet to meet the demands of airline operators since the suspension was announced in May.

NatureNews recalls that Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), had announced that it will shut down operations nationwide on May 9, 2022 as a result of continuous rising cost of aviation fuel called JetA1. But after much deliberations with the Federal government, AON later announced the suspension of the planned shutdown.

According to a statement signed by the President of the AON, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, the government had promised “to urgently intervene in the crises being faced by airlines due to the astronomic and continuously rising cost of JetA1.”

“We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities.”

“In view of the above and in the interest of national economy and security considerations, AON hereby wishes to notify the general public that the earlier announced shutdown of operations on May 9, 2022 is hereby suspended in good fate pending the outcome of hopefully fruitful engagement with government.”

But Essienette who spoke via a telephone interview with NatureNews on Saturday said that the government is yet to respond to the fuel scarcity challenge facing airline operators.

While speaking on the recent press release made by Ibom air on ‘Aviation fuel scarcity alert’, she said, ‘’ recall that there was a time that AON decided to go on strike and shutdown operations but the government promised to look into the fuel situation as well as increase in price. But since then, that hasn’t happened and no formal interaction has taken place outside of the association’s efforts to rally round to see what they can do to manage the entire situation.’’

Speaking on what informed the decision of the management of Ibom Air to alert passengers, she said, ‘’with the fuel situation, we’ve not been able to depart on time and keep to our schedule and these are due to circumstances beyond our control. Sometimes you will be amazed on how uninformed some passengers can be because they probably take it as an act of inefficiency on our part.

‘’As much as we would love to keep the schedule which is what we are hinged on, it is unfortunate that we are unable to do so even in the present circumstance and so that’s what informed the press statement so that people’s expectations can be managed and they will be informed of what is happening. So far, we’ve not had any cancellation because we’ve been trying to manage or reschedule.’’

When asked how long this scarcity will take, she said, ‘’So far we are still operating in Nigeria and the forces of prices affect us as it affect other businesses, we will still experience it but the only thing that should be done is for the custodian of the economy to look into this and introduce some policies that will resolve these issues. It lies in the hands of our leaders to motivate some actions that will directly impact airlines and invariably other businesses so that they can operate optimally.

‘’The business of aviation is to convey persons from one place to another in an airplane powered by aviation fuel. We do not have a vision where we cannot power people but the only alternative is to meet expectation. In a case of cancellation, we could reschedule the flights, tell passengers ahead of time, keep them informed and explain the situation we find ourselves so that they can manage their expectation and be flexible with their travel plans. As hard as it is, we owe our passengers information so that they know it is not a deliberate act.’’

The press release which was signed by Essienette on 22nd July, reads, ‘’This is to bring to your notice that the growing unavailability of aviation fuel has greatly impacted on our operations, leading to flight delays. At this point, it might now result in some flight cancellations. While this situation is unprecedented and disruptive to our value proposition, we assure you that it is as distressing to us as it is to you.

‘’As Ibom Air, we will continue to do everything in our power to operate our flight schedule as close to 100% as possible while looking forward to normalcy being restored at the earliest.’’