Nigeria: Fuel Scarcity – Airlines May Jerk Up Fares

There are indications that airlines may increase airfares following the scarcity of aviation fuel which has hit the airline industry since Friday.

The scarcity, according to investigations, was as a result of the inability of the importers and the marketers to distribute the commodity to the users on Friday evening.
Airlines were already flying with the reserve of fuel in their storage and there was no sign the situation would get better by Monday, independent fuel marketers said.

It was also learnt that the huge quantity of aviation fuel otherwise known as JET-A1, had been downgraded into kerosene after its long stay on the high sea, which is said to have spanned two months

One of the marketers who pleaded anonymity said, “yes, there is scarcity of the commodity and we are trying to resolve it before it leads to dislocation in air travel.”

The source confirmed that an unspecified quantity of the commodity was downgraded to kerosene because of the danger it posed to aircrafts because of its expiration.

He said: “We discovered that the fuel we got had expired because it stayed over two months on the sea and that type of commodity cannot be supplied to the airline industry because of the sensitive nature of aircrafts and the industry. So the product had to be converted into kerosene”.

allAfrica