Again, Aviation Fuel Price Rises, Hits N607 Per Litre

Once again, the price of Jet A1, otherwise known as aviation fuel, has risen to N607 per litre in some airports in the country.

This is the second time the price of the product would rise astronomically in one week.

Just last week, the price of the product rose from N426 per litre to N400 to a litre.

The price of the product has continued to climb in the last one year in the local market.

In February 2021, the prod­uct was sold at N190 per litre in the local market, but by the end of the year, the product rose to between N350 and N370 per litre in the local market, which was about 90 percent increase to the former price of N190 per litre.

Our correspondent gathered that the product goes for N599 per litre in Abuja and Port Harcourt airport; N577 and N581 per litre at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, while the same quanti­ty goes for N607 per litre at the Aminu Kano International Air­port (AKIA).

Information gathered from one of the operators indicated that the price of the product may rise further before the end of the month due to its scarcity, while airlines have continued to delay and cancel flights due to the scarcity of Jet A1 in the last two months.

Also, it was gathered that fuel marketers now ration the product for airlines due to its scarcity.

However, one of the petro­leum marketers, who spoke with our correspondent, but pleaded anonymity, agreed that the price of the product has climbed in the local market in recent months, but debunked that it was scarce.

According to the fuel market­er, most of the domestic airlines could not purchase the fuel be­cause of debts, stressing that “the airlines know what to do.”

He explained that the fuel marketers only decided to withhold supply to the debtor airlines.

Speaking on the high price, the official attributed this to the rise in foreign exchange and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

He said: “The truth is airlines owe the marketers. They are collecting money upfront from passengers, but they are not pay­ing the marketers. I don’t want to mention names.”

Just last month, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, the Chairman, Unit­ed Nigeria Airlines (UNA), had raised the alarm that the price of aviation fuel rose by over 100 percent in the last one year.

Besides, Okonkwo stated that the exchange rate had also jumped from N340 to N570 to a dollar within the same period, stressing that it was pertinent for the government to look crit­ically into the development of the industry in order to arrest collapse.

Also, Barr. Allen Onyema, the Chairman, Air Peace, had told our correspondent that avi­ation fuel prices gallop between N400 and N500 at present in some airports.

Last week, the Federal Com­petition and Consumer Protec­tion Commission (FCCPC) had accused Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) of unanimous­ly fixing airfares base to N50,000 minimum.

FCCPC in its report, accused AON, the umbrella body of in­digenous airlines of encourag­ing and ensuring price-fixing, saying the airlines colluded to increaseairfaresagainstsection 107 (1)(a) and section 108 of the Federal Competition and Con­sumer Protection Act, 2018 ( FCCPA).

A statement signed by Mr. Babatunde Irukera, the Exec­utive Vice Chairman, FCCPC, insisted that the airlines were culpable as they did so in a coor­dinated manner, stressing that the FCCPA prohibits conduct or any coordination between competitors including on the platform of trade associations.