Air travelers to pay more as aviation fuel hits N265 per litre

The recent hike in the price of Jet A1 otherwise known as aviation fuel to about N265 per litre from N220 it sold for in January may force airlines operating in the country to also hike flight tickets, National Daily has gathered.

While confirming the price from N220 in January to between N240 and N265 per liter in February, a staff of embattled Arik Airline, Funmi Ayeni, wondered how airlines could still be selling tickets for one-hour flights at N18, 000 in the country. His suspicion is that some of them are cutting corners in their operations.

Ayeni argued that with the current situation, a ticket for a one-hour flight cannot possibly cost lower than N40, 000. He called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to look closely at the operations of some airlines to avert air crashes arising from lax supervision.

One of the oil marketers who spoke with National Daily on the condition of anonymity said the deteriorating value of the naira was responsible for the hike. “We all buy dollars from the black market, though Federal Government, through the banks sell dollars to investors at a relatively cheaper rate. But the unfortunate thing is that when you approach them, they collect your money and close up. The money may not be available to you even in the next three months.”

He said often they approach the black market for dollars which is at a very high rate when compared to what government sells. “You can see that subsidy has been re-introduced to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). It is because of the continuous free fall of naira,” he explained.

Since the devaluation of the naira, Jet A1 price has increased tremendously from N105 in Lagos to about N230 in Lagos. Just about two weeks ago, the product sold for N220 per liter in Lagos and N230 in airports outside Lago

This simply means that between January 2016 when aviation fuel was averagely sold for N120 per litre and this February 2017, it has increased by over 110 per cent, thereby making operators to be apprehensive that the price may move to N270 if nothing is done to curb the trend.