Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), on Monday, formally requested for licensing of its members for the importation of Aviation Fuel otherwise known as ATK, to end the perennial hike in the price and scarcity of ATK.
Chairman/Managing Director of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, made the appeal during the investigative hearing into the price hike of ATK by oil marketers.
He maintained that the airline operators have the competence to import the required ATK for their operations without any hitches, saying: “We can afford to import this fuel, let NNPC give us the licence and we will no longer complain,” Mr Onyema urged.
Speaking during the hearing, the Deputy Speaker, Hon Ahmed Idris, who presided over the session after perusing through the documents submitted to him, accused the oil marketers of inflating the price of ATK and the exchange rate.
While expressing regrets over the activities of cartel stifling airline operations in the country, he announced that all the airlines may shut down operations in the next three days if the solution is not proffered to the lingering crisis.
“I wish to announce that if they can’t come down from their rooftop, we have only three days more to operate.”
While noting that the least cost of ticket currently stands at N70,000 and may rise to about N120,000, Mr Onyema expressed concern over the static insurance operations in the country, noting that all the insurance companies operating in Nigeria cannot afford to insure an aircraft, hence the recourse to foreign insurance companies.
While frowning at the astronomical hike at the price of ATK from N190 per litre to N670 per litre, the Deputy Speaker warned against economic sabotage.
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