…Foreign airlines not much affected

Most foreign airlines operating in Nigeria are having a smooth operation as they usually refill either from their home countries or neighbouring countries where the Jet A1 is cheaper compared to Nigeria, Daily Trust investigations have shown.

While a litre of Jet A1 costs N170 in Nigeria for instance, it was learnt that the same fuel is priced at $1.30 per gallon in the US while in UK, it is about $2.44 per gallon.

An industry expert said, "Foreign airlines are not affected because they do not source their fuel here in Nigeria. Like the normal Boeing 737 has enough fuel to carry you up to five, six to seven hours and these airlines don't land anywhere.

“They do fuel hedging; they have fuel which they got for themselves or that which they have already hedged, like the one they imported themselves.

"So they don't have to buy fuel in Nigeria. I know definitely they don't buy fuel in Nigeria," he said.

However, Group Capt. John Ojikutu in an interview with Daily Trust said the fact that foreign airlines were not affected has further raised questions about where they sourced their fuel.

He said while most of them could refuel from their home countries, there are some that would have to source fuel in Nigeria especially for their return journey.

Checks at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos last Wednesday showed that international flight schedules were being serviced with little or no delay while the reverse was the case at the domestic wing as most local flights were delayed for up to two hours.

A source at the MMA local private terminal said, "The situation has not improved at all. In fact it is getting worse".