Nigerian airlines have declared they only have enough fuel to operate for a matter of days in the face of rising costs and scarcity of aviation fuel. On Monday, the Airline Operators of Nigeria stated that they had just three days' worth of fuel supplies.

Nigerian carriers running out of fuel

Due to rising fuel costs and a scarcity of fuel, Nigerian carriers have said they have just three days of fuel left. The claim was made by Allen Onyema, CEO of Air Peace and vice president of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), in front of a public hearing at the House of Representatives.

Onyema said,

"I have the mandate of every airline in this country to announce to you that if they cannot come down from their rooftop, we have only three more days to be able to fly. We are not threatening this country. We have been subsidizing what we are doing."

Prices for Jet A1 fuel have exceeded N600 ($1.44) per liter this month. This is a massive jump from N180 ($0.43) per liter in February 2021, while just one month ago, the price was around N400 ($0.96) per liter.

Should the Federal Government refuse to intervene in the matter, airlines may have no other choice but to shut down operations in the coming days when their jet fuel runs out.

Fuel import license granted

Airlines called on Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd to grant them a license to import fuel. Onyema blamed aviation fuel marketers and claimed that they had not afforded any transparency on the reason behind the price hikes.

Onyema added,

"What we are asking from the government is to give us the right to import aviation fuel. What others use in insuring one plane is what we use in insuring three planes in Nigeria, so the Nigeria airline is dead on arrival."

Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director at NNPC, stated that the request to import aviation fuel had been granted.

Fares may go up again

At the end of discussions on Monday, airlines and fuel marketers had agreed on a price of N500 ($1.20) per liter for the next few days. However, price modalities are to be thrashed out in the coming days.

Nigerian carriers have already raised fare prices significantly due to rising fuel costs. Despite this, Onyema warns that they may be forced to do so again.

Onyema said,

"If we continue this way, the least ticket you will have is about N120,000. And the marketers have refused to tell us how much is the unit cost of their acquisition."

With a possible industry-wide fuel shortage on the horizon, it remains to be seen how long Nigerian carriers can keep their operations going.

Do you think Nigerian airlines will find a way out of this crisis? Let us know your insights in the comments.