Breaking: Airliners threaten to shut down operations

As cost of aviation fuel keep surging day by day, Airline operators on Monday threatened to shut operations, saying that they cannot bear the cost anymore.

The association has called for immediate intervention by the Federal government of Nigeria or they would shut operations within 72 hours.

Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace and Vice Chairman of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Chief Allen Onyeama, disclosed this during the resumed meeting between the operators, oil marketers, the regulators and leadership of the House of Representatives.

He said the current price was unsustainable, hence, shutting down operations may be the next alternative.

According to him, it is no threat, but a reality that the cost of aviation fuel was too high for airline business.

He said: “If they (cost of aviation fuel) don’t come down from their high horse, I am sorry to say that we have only three days of operation left.

“We know the importance of aviation to the economy. Currently, the average price per seat is N70, 000. We have not included the cost of insurance to that.

“All the Insurance companies in this country cannot insure one one aircraft. So, we have to go outside the country to get insurance for our aircraft.

“We cannot continue to subsidise the industry. If we must continue to operate at this rate, then the average cost per ticket will be around N150, 000 and that will not be good for the economy.”