Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), an industry body composed of around a dozen mainly domestic carriers, wrote to the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria on April 14, complaining that jet fuel prices had risen by about 270% since late February.
Nigerian airlines has announced that it will be suspending all flight operations from April 20, unless crippling jet fuel prices, which they accused the country’s fuel marketers of artificially inflating, are reduced. The AON called the jet fuel increase in Africa’s most populous nation “astronomical and artificial,” saying it far outpaced global crude oil prices. Soaring jet fuel prices have upended the global aviation industry as a consequence of the Iran war, forcing airlines to raise fares, curb growth plans and rethink forecasts. African airlines are particularly vulnerable, as jet fuel typically accounts for between 30% and 40% of their operating costs, compared with a global average of 20% to 25%, according to the African Airlines Association.
