More domestic airlines may reduce flight operations across Nigeria as the worsening Jet A1 aviation fuel crisis continues to disrupt schedules and raise fresh concerns over passenger safety and the survival of carriers already struggling with rising operational costs.
Operators say route cuts and reduced frequencies have become unavoidable as the cost and availability of aviation fuel remain unstable despite previous interventions by industry regulators and government agencies.
On Friday, one of the domestic carriers, Rano Air, took a decision to reduce frequencies, cancelling over 50 per cent of flights.
Also, a source yesterday confirmed that Max Air would also follow suit by cancelling several of its flights as the Jet A1 crisis bites harder.
The source, a member of staff of the airline, told Daily Trust the airline had decided to cancel Bauchi, reduce flights to Port Harcourt, Kano, Lagos and other routes.
‘We will reduce it. We are reducing like 50,’ the operator disclosed, indicating the scale of ongoing operational adjustments within the sector.
Many airlines have also scaled down their operations by doing what a source called, ‘skeletal service.’
‘We believe this is what we can do to cope with the current situation since we didn’t shut down again completely.
This was actually our plan if not for the intervention of the federal government. But the intervention has not yielded any results. Jet A1 prices are still on the high side,’ he said.
Another operator added that carriers may soon transfer part of the additional operational burden to passengers through higher ticket prices.
‘We may possibly increase our prices,’ the source said.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has warned that persistent fuel shortages are beginning to create serious safety concerns within Nigeria’s aviation industry.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, NAAPE President, Captain Bunmi Gindeh, said prolonged flight delays and operational disruptions caused by fuel scarcity were increasing crew fatigue and placing pressure on safety margins.
‘The persistent disruptions to flight schedules occasioned by the Jet A1 supply shortfall have resulted in significant extensions of crew duty time beyond planned parameters,’ Gindeh said, adding, ‘Fatigue impairs cognitive function, slows reaction time, and, most dangerously, erodes situational awareness.’ The union urged the Federal
Government, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), fuel suppliers and other stakeholders to urgently resolve the supply disruptions before the situation deteriorates further.
The union also warned that the economic effects of the crisis are beginning to ripple through airline operations and staff welfare systems.