Jet Fuel Negotiations Deadlocked, 48 Hours After, FG, AON, Others Meet

• Breaks into four focal persons to resolve issues 

•Keyamo: Airlines may not sustain operations after seven days 

• As Tinubu grant 30% waiver to airlines on debts owed agencies

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

Forty-eight hours after, the rescheduled meeting of the federal government with Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON) and Aviation Fuel Jet A1, Marketers Thursday ended in a deadlock.

The meeting convened with the permission of Mr. President for stakeholders to discuss frankly and find a way out of the present situation, however resulted in the  creation of four focal person’s to report back to government in the next seventy two hours to address the issue.

Speaking, on the sidelines on Thursday, shortly after the first face-to-face interaction with the marketers, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said: “The airlines have actually, traped into downing tools because it was no longer feasible to continue to buy JET-A1 fuel at the price that they were marketing and selling.”

According to him, “The airlines cannot continue for the next several days, with the recent prices, so let’s be clear to the public. And they will tell you that. They have been stretched to limits.

“And so, we are looking at the next 48 to 72 hours for the focal person’s, on the side of the marketers, the focal person on the side of the regulator. And the focal person on the side of the airlines and governments to all meet and see whether we can get some very fair and appropriate reasonable pricing for the product.”

Speaking further, Keyamo asserted that the regulator will do its job in that regard. “There is a free market, yes, a free market, but it is not a licence to go haywire.

“So, whether there is a conspiracy or at some point, to punish the Nigerian people, we will see in the next 48 to 72 hours. And of course, we are going to announce to the public what that decision is. So, they will go into some very closed room meeting and get to the resolution of this matter.”

Keyamo further disclosed that Just yesterday, “Mr. President said we should submit our request today. Regarding the discounts to be given to the airlines from the debt they owe to the aviation agencies, FAAN NCAA, NAMA. So this evening, Mr. President has definitely approved a 30% discount.

“As at yesterday, we didn’t do the number, because Mr. President wanted to consider it. But this evening, Mr. President just communicated to us through the Chief of Staff while we were in the meeting that he is granting a 30% discount to all the airlines for this purpose. This is what you said.”

Speaking on behalf of AON, Chairman, Air Peace, Allen Onyema, stated that since the advent of the US-Iran War, there has been a tremendous spike in the cost of aviation fuel in Nigeria, which we, in AON, the airlines of Nigeria, feel that it’s not proportionate to the rise of the international price.

According to him, “The normal standard is, it has a percentage increase in the price of goods. We also have proportionate increase in the price of the by-products. One of those by-products is the additional fuel.

“It’s only in Nigeria that we have about two hundred and two hundred fifty to seventy percent increase. Why, in other parts of the world, including African countries, about seventy percent. This is why the president, and the minister called for this meeting for us to meet with the marketers face-to-face.

“We are going to go back and wait for the outcome of their own deliberation with their regulators. When they do that, we expect that in the next 48 hours something drastic is done because no airline is going to be flying in the next seven days if something is not done, not because they don’t want to fly, but because the pricing, not only of our tickets, but the pricing of the fuel product that we need to fly in the first place, may not be available to us, because we don’t have the money, though that five percent and thirty percent to continue to pay only fuel marketers to fly.

“But the good news, like yesterday is that the president is listening. And this is very encouraging to us and we are very hopeful, the country too,” Onyema stated.