The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has hinted at a possible hike in the price of airfares for the next seven days to allow domestic airlines to keep operating and avert a possible shutdown of operations.

Keyamo disclosed during an interview after an over four-hour closed-door meeting with stakeholders in the industry.

“Airlines cannot continue to operate for the next seven days without raising prices, so let that be clear to the public; they have been stretched to their limit,” Keyamo said.

He also revealed that for the next 48 to 72 hours, key stakeholders would explore fair pricing for Jet A1 fuel to tackle areas where there is possible exploitation by marketers to deliberately punish Nigerians.

Shutdown

Speaking on behalf of the airline operators, Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace Limited, Allen Onyema, though expressed optimism for a speedy resolution, stated that if nothing was done in the next 48 hours, no airline would fly for the next seven days.

“The minister called for a meeting for us to meet with the marketers face-to-face. We have deliberated extensively today; they have also shared their pain point, and we have also shared our own.

“We are all going to go back to wait for the outcome of their own deliberations with their regulators, and we expect that in the next 48 hours something drastic is done because no airline in this country will fly in the next seven days if something is not done—not because they don’t want to fly, but because of the pricing, not only for our tickets but the pricing of the fuel products that we need to fly,” he added.

Hike In Jet A1 Fuel

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) had last week raised the alarm over what it described as a 300 per cent hike in Jet A1 fuel prices from ?900 per litre as of February 28 to ?3,300 per litre, warning of dire consequences for the aviation sector.

The group said that the situation could force operators to suspend services if urgent intervention was not made.

But energy marketers, under the auspices of Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), pushed back on the allegation, stating that “prices are dictated by market realities” and fluctuations in global crude oil prices, foreign exchange challenges, and logistics costs.

They insisted that there was no deliberate attempt to exploit airlines, noting that supply chain pressures had significantly impacted pricing.

In response, aviation minister Festus Keyamo acknowledged the crisis and announced a stakeholders’ meeting, saying it was necessary for all parties to “sit down and find a common ground.”

The meeting was aimed at addressing pricing concerns, ensuring fair market practices, and preventing a shutdown of domestic airline operations. (Channels TV)

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