24 hours to shutting down of domestic airline operations, reps urge operators to halt action

Barely twenty four hours to the shutting down of domestic airline operations as threatened by Nigerian airlines over high cost of aviation fuel and other challenges, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Honourable Nnolim Nnaji has appealed to the airlines to rescind action on their plans.

Nnaji who regretted that despite the last intervention of the leadership of the House of Representatives, Aviation and other relevant Committees, the problem remained unabated, assured the airlines that his Committee and indeed the House leadership were not sleeping over their plight.

The Aviation Committee Chairman disclosed that the House of Reps Leadership had already summoned a meeting of the stakeholders including the chairmen of the relevant committees of the House to a meeting on Monday, May 9, 2022 to address the matter.

Nnaji who praised the operators for their patriotism further urged them not to ground their operations stressing, that, “such will inflict more pains on our already distressed economy”.

According to Nnaji: “the National Assembly is determined to ensure that the aviation fuel crisis is urgently resolved because air transportation has become the safest mode of travel. It is equally the catalyst of economic development so we cannot afford to entertain any disruptions in the sector especially now that election process is ongoing.”

The operators had on Friday, May 6, 2022 issued a notice of shutting down their operations over the hike in aviation fuel which has now risen to N700 a litre thereby shooting their costs of operations-to 95 percent.

This was contained in a letter signed by the AON President, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina and eight other airlines.

The leadership of the House of Representatives had at the instance of a motion sponsored by the Aviation Committee Chairman, Nnaji, intervened on the same issue in March, 2022 during which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, (NNPC) was urged to issue importation licence to the operators as part of the measures in resolving the challenges.