Many domestic flights to different destinations across the country were
cancelled during the weekend as a result of the scarcity of aviation
fuel, according to information obtained by our correspondent on
Monday.Hundreds of passengers were stranded at theMurtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport, Abuja on Saturday and Sunday as the scarcity of aviation fuel
led to the grounding of most flights.While Arik Air had last week
explained that it had to scale down its flights, Aero Contractors on
Monday declared that it cancelled four flights as a result of the
scarcity of aviation fuel, popularly known as Jet-A1.The domestic
carrier said in a statement, “On Saturday, due to lack of aviation fuel
in the country, Aero Contractors had to cancel someflights, namely, NG
129, 131 and 135, out of Lagos, and NG 134, out of Abuja. All attempts
by our management and staff to secure fuel from our suppliers failed,
hence the inevitableand unfortunate option to cancel the four
flights.“Over the last few weeks, the supply of aviation fuel has been
very erratic, leading to flight delays and sometimes cancellations. It
is common knowledge that last week was also hectic for most commuters in
the nation as a result of zero supply of petrol.”The airline regretted
the “unfortunate situation and inconveniences suffered” by its customers
and urged those involved to contact it for refund or rebooking of
flights at no extra charge.Last week, Arik Air announced that it had to
reduce its flights to 20 per cent capacity out of the over 100 daily
flights.The airline’s managing director, Mr. Chris Ndulue, said it had
put contingency plans in place to ensure it did not shut down operations
because of the scarcity of aviationfuel.He said the airline flew to
neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa to sourcefor aviation
fuel at a ridiculously high rate in order to sustain its
operations.Ndulue said Arik Air was now flying to Ghana, Cameroon and
Benin Republic to source for aviation fuel.He added that if the
situation did not improve, the airline might be unable to operate
flights, as the alternate arrangement was costing it too much money with
the attendant inconveniences to passengers.Ndulue said since last
Thursday, when the scarcity of aviation fuel escalated, Arik Air hadover
stretched its bounds to secure the over 800,000 litres needed for its
daily operations.
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