Air Peace, Max Air, Arik Air and others have suspended their plan to shutdown domestic and regional flight operations on Monday, May 9, 2022.
This was confirmed by the Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON) via a statement jointly signed by its President, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina, and other members on Sunday.
Others that signed the statement are Executive Director, Max Air, Alhaji Shehu Wada; the Chairman, United Nigeria Airlines, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo; the CEO, Arik Air, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu; the CEO, Aero Contractors, Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood; the MD, Azman Air, Faisal Abdulmunaf, and Chairman, Air Peace, Barr. Allen Onyema.
Why AON suspended the shutdown of flights
- It stated, “The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) wishes to inform the general public that further to numerous calls from the highest echelons in government with promises to urgently intervene in the crises being faced by airlines due to the astronomic and continuously rising cost of JetA1, that the AON has acceded to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow for a fresh round of dialogue with the government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution.
- “We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities.
- “In view of the above and in the interest of national economy and security considerations, AON hereby wishes to notify the general public that the earlier announced shutdown of operations on May 9, 2022 is hereby suspended in good fate pending the outcome of hopefully fruitful engagement with government.”
It was reported, on Friday, that Air Peace, Ibom Air, Max Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines and four others planned to embark on an indefinite strike on Monday, May 9, 2020, as the cost of aviation fuel hits N700 per litre. Other airlines affected are Aero Contractors, Azman Air, Overland Airways, and Dana Air.
This was disclosed by AON via a statement issued on Friday.
The statement, which was seen by Nairametrics, was signed by the President of AON, Abdulmunaf Yunusa and copied to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika and the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Capt. Musa Nuhu.
It stated, “It is with a great sense of responsibility and patriotism that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have carried on deploying and subsidising their services to our highly esteemed Nigerian flying public in the last four months despite the astronomical hike in the price of JetA1 and other operating costs.
“Overtime, aviation fuel price (JetA1) has risen from N190 per litre to N700 currently. In the face of this, airlines have engaged the Federal Government, the National Assembly, NNPC and oil marketers with the view to bringing the cost of JetA1 down which has currently made the unit cost per seat for a one hour flight in Nigeria today to an average of N120,000. The latter cannot be fully passed to passengers who are already experiencing a lot of difficulties.”
