Aviation fuel: Passengers to pay more as Jet A1 hits N900 per liter

…As one-way travel ticket hits N80,000

By Seun Ibiyemi

Following the scarcity and price of Aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, which has continued to hit airline operators hard, reducing their profit margins, airlines operators in Nigeria have increased the price of tickets from N50,000 pegged in February to  N75,000—N100000.

This is even as some airlines shut down operators due to the scarcity.

Nigerian NewsDirect gathered that Jet A1 has hit all time high as it currently costs N822 per litre in Lagos, N859 in Abuja, N852 per litre in Port Harcourt, while it sells at N890 and N892 in Yola and Maiduguri respectively.

This increment in price of Jet-A1, according to airline operators, has eaten up their profit, thereby making profitability very slim for operators.

Further investigations showed that the increase in the price of Jet A1 has made fuel constitute 70 per cent of airlines operating cost as against 40 per cent it was before the global energy crisis.

Also, aviation fuel recorded a price hike of 268 per cent between January 2022 and April 2022, moving from N190 to over N800 in five months.

This has made domestic airline carriers in Nigeria threaten to shut down their operations, citing rising jet fuel costs and the increasing cost of operation.

Due to the increase in Jet-A1, a return ticket across the country ranges from N140,000 to N200,000 depending on the time such bookings were made, making air travel out of the reach of the middle class.

A visit to the websites of commercial airline operators have shown that scarcity of aviation fuel is beginning to influence prices as an economy ticket has been reviewed upward by over 36.36 per cent.

For instance, Air Peace economy (Flexi Domestic), a ticket from Lagos to Abuja trip at 1000 hours on Saturday sells for N100,000, while the first flight ticket for the same Monday sells for N85,000.

Air Peace’s Tuesday ticket to Abuja sells between N75,000 to N80,000 as of the time of filing this report

On Ibom Air, low demand routes stand at N68,000, while high demand routes such as Abuja to Lagos To Abuja, Portharcourt to Abuja, and Lagos to Akwa Ibom sell between N72,000 to N75,000, depending on the time of travel.

United Nigeria Airline ticket for Monday, July 25, sells for 80,000 irrespective of the high demand routes, while flights are not available for the low demand routes.

For Azman Air, a one way ticket from Lagos to Kaduna on Sunday, July 24, goes for N99,749, while it sells for N85,000 on Monday. Lagos to Abuja on Monday, as well, sells for N75,000.

Arik Air economy tickets cost about N83,000 to N93,000, while its business class ticket has surged to a starting price of N115,000 to N132,000 for a one way trip.

However, despite the price increment, airline operators have notified passengers of possible flight disruption due to the scarcity of Jet-A1.

In a statement, airlines operators informed air travellers to expect flight disruptions owing to Jet A1 shortage that has hit a record high; thus likely to affect schedules.

AON Spokesman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo who signed the statement appealed to the travelling public for the understanding.

The statement reads, “This is to notify the members of the public, especially consumers of air transport services in the country, that the aviation sector has been hit by a major crisis with the acute scarcity of aviation fuel otherwise known as Jet-A1.

“For this reason, there will be major disruptions in scheduled flight operations including cancellations and unnecessary delays across all airports in the country.

“This is a foreseen but unintended consequence of the aviation fuel scarcity in the country.

“We, therefore, plead for the understanding of the travelling public to bear with our members as efforts are currently being made to address the development and restore normal flight operations.

“AON is committed to rendering seamless and uninterrupted air transport service across the country.