FG to airlines: No immediate solution to aviation sector crisis

The Federal Government has said there were no immediate solutions to the crisis rocking the country’s aviation sector.

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, said this in his office in Abuja on Tuesday during an emergency meeting with the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).

He made this known after the AON President, Abdulmunaf Sarina, appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in the increasing price of aviation fuel, otherwise known as Jet A-1.

Sarina said the aviation fuel crisis began from N180 per litre to N1,000 per litre, adding that the foreign exchange (Forex) crisis was a huge burden on the aviation industry.

“The rate at which the dollar is escalating now is very alarming. Every day, a difference between N10 to N15 is added at the apparel market.

“Last week Monday, it was N610 but today, it is N670 to one dollar. We want the Federal Government to intervene,” the AON President said.

Responding, Sirika said the variables impacting the crisis in the aviation sector were beyond the industry’s control, noting that the energy crisis was a global problem.

“Energy crisis is real and it is global. Today there is aviation fuel problem all over the world. From America to New Zealand. It is aggravating in Nigeria because we do not produce the product.

“It is aggravated also because the foreign exchange is scarce in Nigeria because the source of earning the foreign exchange also has dwindled,” the minister said.

Sirika, who said the Federal Government had in the past sourced 10,000 metric tonnes of aviation fuel for the airlines, stated that the government was willing to do more.

The minister, however, assured the association that the government was in the process of finding a permanent solution to the challenges in the aviation sector.

“By importation of the product at appropriate price, accelerating the refurbishment of our refineries and also wait for the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery to boost supply of the product. Thus, it cannot immediate.

“So, when you ask how soon, I will not know when Dangote will come on stream, I will not know how soon the refineries will be filled. I will not know when imports will become sufficient.

“But the government is working towards all these to happen,” he said.

Sirika further promised to meet with relevant stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in order for the airlines to access dollars at the official market rate rather than the black market rate.

The Star