By Ghazali Ibrahim
The Federal Government has summoned an emergency meeting with airline operators in a bid to avert a looming shutdown of domestic flights and halt rising airfares triggered by soaring aviation fuel prices.
The move follows warnings by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) that its members may suspend operations nationwide from April 20 due to the escalating cost of Jet A1 fuel, which operators say has become unsustainable.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed that the government has scheduled a high-level stakeholders’ meeting to address the crisis and find a lasting solution.
In a letter to the airlines, Keyamo urged operators to suspend plans to halt flight operations and avoid increasing ticket fares, warning that such actions would impose hardship on Nigerians and disrupt economic activities.
The crisis is driven by a sharp spike in aviation fuel prices, which have reportedly surged from about N900 per litre in February to over N3,300 per litre, an increase of roughly 300 percent.
Airlines argue that the increase has pushed operational costs beyond sustainable levels, with fuel now consuming a significant share of their expenses. Industry data shows that fuel typically accounts for 30 to 40 percent of airline operating costs in Africa, making carriers particularly vulnerable to price shocks.
The AON has warned that if no urgent intervention is made, a shutdown of flight operations could have far-reaching consequences, including job losses, disruption to business travel, and broader economic instability.
The Federal Government, however, stressed the strategic importance of the aviation sector to national security, trade, and economic integration, assuring stakeholders that immediate steps are being taken to stabilise the situation.
The emergency meeting, expected to bring together regulators, airline operators, and fuel marketers, is seen as a critical step toward preventing a full-scale disruption of Nigeria’s aviation sector.
