Nigeria’s domestic carrier, Aero Contractors, on Monday said limited supply of JET A1, also known as aviation fuel, was disrupting its flight operations in the country.
The airline made this known in a statement by its Media Consultant, Mr Simon Tumba, in Lagos.
Some passengers of the airline traveling from Lagos to various destinations on Sunday night and Monday morning were delayed for several hours at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
However, the statement attributed the disruption of Aero Contractors services to the scarcity of aviation fuel.
The statement said: “Aero wishes to apologise to its dearest customers over the delay and cancellation of flight operations last night and this morning.
“We are experiencing fuel scarcity as our contract fuel suppliers are unable to supply fuel to us, while the other suppliers are unable to supply fuel to us due to scarcity of aviation fuel.
“We are taking appropriate measures to address this issue as soon as possible by engaging other suppliers to ensure a smooth, safe and secure flight operations for our customers.”
It, therefore, thanked the passengers for their patience and understanding, adding that the situation would soon be resolved.
Meanwhile, a former President of the Aviation Round Table (ART), Capt. Dele Ore, has advised the Federal Government to work towards local production of aviation fuel, in order to end its lingering scarcity in the country.
Ore said in Lagos that the government should ensure the refining of the product at the country’s refineries, which would put an end to its importation.
According to him, Jet A1 fuel shares similar characteristics with kerosene and can be refined locally when the refineries have been restored to their full production capacities.
He said that apart from ending its scarcity in the country, Nigeria would be able to export the product to other neighbouring countries in the West African sub-region and generate more revenue.
