BREAKING: Aviation Fuel Scarcity Leaves Passengers Stranded At Abuja Airport, Disrupts Flights

Some passengers have been stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport as aircraft companies compete for aviation fuel, which is in short supply.

Aviation fuel, also known as Jet-A1, is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power airplanes that often accounts for more than 30% of an airline’s operating costs.

In several Nigerian airports, the price of Jet A1, often known as aviation gasoline, has climbed to N700 per litre.

Some merchants, according to airline operators, were hoarding the fuel.

Marketers, they claim, are creating an artificial shortage of the commodity across the country.

Passengers on Air Peace and Dana Air were stuck for several hours at the Abuja airport on Sunday due to a lack of fuel to fly the planes to their respective destinations, according to SaharaReporters.

“The flights affected are Air Peace, Abuja to Lagos and Dana Air, Abuja to Port Harcourt

“Passengers have been stranded for more than two hours and it is because of lack of fuel,” a source at the airport tells SaharaReporters on Sunday.

Due to a “prolonged scarcity of aviation fuel” and a rise in the product price, Nigerian airlines warned passengers last week that flight interruptions were possible.

The price of aviation fuel has risen from N190 per litre to N670 per litre, according to Allen Onyema, chief executive officer of Air Peace, who spoke on behalf of aircraft operators.

Onyema stated that if it weren’t for the political season and the current administration’s support for the sector, the operators would have shut down operations.