By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The lingering aviation scarcity is gradually biting hard on airline operators in Nigeria and Arik Air is not excluded.
On Wednesday, management of the foremost airline in Nigeria announced a reduction of flights due to scarcity of JET A1 commonly called aviation fuel.
Arik Air disclosed that the aviation fuel scarcity started manifesting last week when major oil marketers began to ration supply of the product to airlines.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its Communications Manager, Mr Ola Adebanji, the airline explained that due to the problem, one of its flights to Johannesburg on Tuesday had to be routed via Port Harcourt to pick up fuel.
Mr Adebanji said in the statement that, “With a daily fuel need of about 500,000 litres and an average of over 100 daily flights, Arik Air is mostly affected by this scarcity which is the fourth this year alone.”
He said “as a result of the worsening supply situation of aviation fuel, Arik Air has announced further reduction in flights from November 16 to cope with the fresh scarcity.”
He said this will cut down unpleasant flight delays and cancellations which passengers have experienced in recent times.
The company appealed for the understanding of its customers whose flights were likely to be affected by the scarcity and scaling down of operations and stressed it would notify them through SMS or email messages in situation where flights would be delayed or cancelled due to the scarcity.
The statement said already, an oil marketer has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Saturday, alerting of non-availability of the product in Lagos.
Aduragbemi Omiyale