Nigerian Carriers Groan as Fuel Scarcity, High Fares Disrupt Flight Operations Globally

Chinedu Eze

Protracted paucity of energy supply due to the Iranian war has reduced the availability of Aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, in the international market and spiked prices globally, forcing mega carriers and others to cut down operations.

In Nigeria, domestic airlines are still getting aviation fuel supply due to the existence of Dangote Refinery, but the price of the product has skyrocketed, thus increasing the cost of flight operations.

The prices of the product have a base of N2, 400 per litre and this can increase, depending on the airport and the state.

Before now it was higher than that, a development that prompted the airlines to raise concern.

It was learnt that numerous international airlines, including major carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines, are cutting flights and capacity, particularly to the Middle East due to soaring fuel prices.

Also, budget carriers such as Ryanair, Transavia, and Volotea are also reducing routes, as 6,500 routes were discontinued globally between 2024 and 2025.

Reports indicate that the Middle East conflict and rising jet fuel prices are heavily impacting, specifically hitting low-cost carriers, a development that has forced many airlines to suspend flights to destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, and Tel Aviv.

The development has also led to shift in travel demand and economic factors have led to 41.8 per cent of global routes with lower volumes being considered for or experiencing capacity cuts

According to Reuters, European airlines are facing their biggest challenge ​since the COVID-19 pandemic as the Iran war pushes up jet fuel prices and buffets travel through the Middle East, casting a shadow ‌over the summer holiday season.

Investing.com and other media reports indicated that jet fuel prices have more than doubled due to supply disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, creating a severe global shortage and hitting airlines hardest.

Therefore, airlines are raising fares and grounding flights as fuel costs surge, especially across Asia and Europe.

There are also fears that even if the war stops and there is amicable resolution between Iran and the US, it will still take some time before the world will return to normalised crude refining and petroleum products distribution.

“Even if supply recovers, the market could take months to normalise, with conditions likely to worsen in the near term. Soaring jet fuel prices have hit the profitability of airlines that have started raising air fares and grounding flights to contain the fallout from the Iran war, which has more than doubled aviation fuel prices over the past month,” invesing.com reported.

Oil and jet fuel supplies are constrained as crude and petroleum products are trapped at the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Asian refiners to cut run rates and Asian countries to restrict or ban exports to preserve domestic supply.

Reports also indicated that Jet A1 market came under more severe stress than the crude markets as the war dislocated oil and fuel supplies and sent jet and diesel premiums over Brent to astronomical highs.

According to energy industry analysis, the stress has been more severe in jet fuel situation than other petroleum products and this has severely affected the prices. It also signalled acute price pain for airlines and consumers going forward.  

In Nigeria, it was learnt that when the price of Jet A1 started rising, marketers sold their old stock at exorbitant prices after hoarding it to create artificial scarcity, hoping to buy more through importation. But they hit the brick wall when it became evident that the product was not readily available in the international market. Everyone resorted to Dangote, as African nations, some European nations have started buying from Dangote.

Shocked by the soaring prices and suspicion that marketers may have unnecessarily jerked up their prices, the airlines through the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), threatened to stop flight operations on April 20, 2026 but the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, intervened. This led to series of meetings between the minister and other stakeholders under which the marketers capped the prices of aviation fuel to range from N1,760 – N1,988 per litre and N1,809 – N2,037 per litre in Lagos and Abuja.

However, the new prices are yet to be implemented as at Wednesday, but the airlines hoped that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) would keep to their promise of reviewing downwards the prices of the product.

THISDAY spoke to Nigerian airlines to know whether the prices have come down as pledged by NMDPRA.

Spokesman of United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), Chibuike Eloka, told THISDAY that the airline recorded losses in its operation because the revenues from ticket sales could not defray the cost of operations, adding that the airline has to borrow “from all possible sources” to make sure that it meets its obligation with passengers.

“We are still operating at full capacity but we are spending so much money to ensure that we don’t disappoint our customers. You know, our priority is customer experience, but we are doing that at huge expenses. Currently, we do not have any plan to cut down operations, but if the situation continues as it has been, we may not have no other option than to review our operations,” he said.

Eloka emphasised that the cost of every trip carried out by the airline cost more than revenues earned from that flight, which means the airline is recording a lot of losses.

“We hope that the marketers will adjust to the new prices of aviation fuel, as they promised. That will give the airlines a lot of relief. Our operation is still at full capacity but we are bearing the brunt of it in terms of costs,” he added.

Head of Communications, Air Peace, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, also told THISDAY that the airline was operating at full capacity in its domestic and regional services, but has reduced its Abuja-London flights to three times a week, while Lagos –London operates daily

Osifo-Whiskey reiterated that earnings from ticket sales were not funding the cost of operations, insisting that the airline is recording losses due to the high cost of aviation fuel and the taxes it is paying.

He, however, noted that despite the low season, the airline airlifted over 6000 passengers daily and these include domestic, regional and international flights.

“We airlift over 6000 passengers daily and we have maintained this over time. We know the figures will drastically increase during the high season but we have been able to maintain this load factor so far because we are doing aggressive marketing in some routes. As you know, we have four Boeing B777; we have been able to maintain our international flights from Lagos and Abuja to London. We operate daily to London from Lagos and three times weekly from Abuja.

“We are helped by our code-share with Emirates, especially on regional destinations because we bring passengers from the West Coast to Nigeria and connect them with our partners and we do the same distributing them to their final destinations. We have also signed partnership with Turkish Airlines and the partnership will start taking effect soon. We are hoping that the marketers will start implementing the new price regime soon, which we hope will be less than N2000 per litre,” he said.