Airline Operators Threaten to Shrink Routes Over Prohibitive Cost of Aviation Fuel

Chinedu Eze

Domestic operators have said that if the high cost of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 continues as it is currently, airlines may be forced to close their routes which do not defray the cost of operating them.

This is as the operators denounced claims by the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) in a recent statement that the high cost of aviation fuel may lead to safety breach or overstretch the working period of pilots.

The Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, while reacting to the high cost of aviation fuel, told THISDAY that airlines would shrink their routes in order to manage the cost of operation and that any route that does not cover the cost of flying to them would be closed.

He also said that if there was no end to current Iran-US impasse, some airlines may go under adding that only the strong ones will continue to operate, as it has started happening in some countries.

Recently, NAAPE raised the alarm insisting that Jet A1 crisis poses a direct threat to flight safety and the structural survival of Nigeria’s aviation industry.

The association stated that the shortage of the product has evolved beyond a simple logistics issue into a critical emergency that jeopardizes both operational standards and the sector’s long-term viability.

The union expressed ‘grave concern’ over how supply shortfalls are forcing dangerous operational compromises. Central to the association’s alarm is the escalating risk of crew fatigue; as flight schedules collapse, pilots and engineers are frequently pushed beyond planned duty parameters.

But Sanusi who is member of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said there was no scarcity of aviation fuel; but rather, the price of the product is high, insisting that there is no way the high price of the product can lead to safety breach or stretching pilot’s working hours.

He said that through the intervention of the federal government, there had been efforts to curb the prices of Jet A1 and that Dangote has started publishing the price of the product so that Nigerians would know the actual cost of the product and the taxes built into it.

“I don’t think that the cost of aviation fuel will in any way lead to breach of safety in airline operation and I also don’t think that the duty time of pilots can be extended. Pilots duty time is protected by regulation and no one can force a pilot to extend his duty time. If any airline tries to force a pilot beyond his duty time the pilot must resist. If the airline sacks him, the regulatory authority will reinstate him and sanction the airline. Pilot is responsible to his duty time and that is protected by regulation.

“High price of aviation fuel cannot affect safety and the product is not scarce. In those days when the product used to be scarce, the crew would be waiting and when it took long time to get the product, by the time it will come I will do crew change when I was at Arik Air (as Vice President and Head of Flight Operations),” he said.

Sanusi said that the current situation has wiped off airlines possible profits and noted that profit margin in airline business is very thin and with the high cost of aviation fuel, no airline will be thinking of making profits because the high cost of Jet A1 is taking a huge toll on airline’s operational cost.

He allayed the fears that airlines may compromise operational safety standards by trying to cut cost of operation, as so much money is expended on purchasing jet fuel, remarking that over the years, Nigerian carriers have struggled over many financial challenges.

“Over the years we have joggled to reduce costs and this one will not be more difficult than others. Airlines have been managing. We will always joggle the costs. We joggled exchange rate, high cost of aviation fuel, scarcity of the product. We joggled the high cost of insurance, costs from handling services and even charges from government.

“But what everyone must know is that we cannot compromise safety because, as airlines we sell speed and safety. Some airlines will be forced to suspend routes. Some have already suspended operating to some routes, some will shut down. But many will record losses. Some airlines overseas will have to seek for funds from their shareholders to subsidize their operations but any which cannot sustain its operations will shut down,” he further said.

Sanusi also disclosed that Aero Contractors is among the Nigerian carriers still operating and it has recently increased operating aircraft from three to four, noting that one aircraft would be on standby while the other three would be operating.

He said that in order to mitigate the cost of aircraft maintenance, Nigerian carriers should stop taking their aircraft overseas for major maintenance; rather, they could form a synergy with Aero to conduct major checks in their aircraft, noting that Aero already has the infrastructure and manpower. With approval from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), airlines and Aero Contractors could collaborate by deploying airline engineers to work with Aero Contractors engineers to carry out major checks on their aircraft.

He said that the benefits of this included the fact that payment would be made in naira; so, there would not be any need for foreign exchange and airlines can talk with their banks to pay for the cost of maintenance while they deduct the cost from ticket sales.

“We must design our own system of survival. We must come together and determine our survival or we go under as individual airlines. All we need to do is to secure NCAA approval and airlines will work with Aero’s Airline Maintenance Organisation (AMO) and fashion out modalities of conducting heavy checks on our aircraft. At Aero, we have the infrastructure, the experience, skilled manpower and we can draw from the airlines and conduct checks together,” Sanusi added.

On the immediate future of air transport in Nigeria, Sanusi said that if the high cost of aviation fuel continued, something must give way; either airlines increase their fares, which will reduce the number of people that will fly.