…canvasses enforcement of all standards along supply chain.
John Silas
As Nigerian airlines battle the continuous skyrocketing of the price Jet A1 (aviation fuel) in Nigeria, the General Manager, Total Energies Nigeria, Engr. Rabiu Abdulmutalib, has adduced reasons behind the dilemma.
He attributed the exorbitant price to continuous importation of Jet A1, inability of airline operators to have easy access to foreign exchange and airport taxes among others.
Abdulmutalib in his presentation at a conference organised by aviation correspondents in Lagos, recently, said that unless the aforementioned challenges are resolved, the price of the product would continue to rise in the country.
A litre of aviation fuel in the domestic scene goes as high as N305 and N315 per litre, depending on the airport an airline is buying from.
According to him, the inability of local refineries to refine the product locally, high investment in logistics and high cost of aviation fuel handling equipment like refuellers, hydrant dispenser/servicers and filtration systems are also contributory to the sordid situation in the local market.
To address the current situation, Abdulmutalib canvassed for proper coordination among relevant government agencies in monitoring and enforcement of all standards along the supply chain.
Some of the agencies he mentioned included the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), amongst others.
To avoid contamination of the product, Abdulmutalib opined that organisaitons should not compromise any of the established international and local regulations on handling JET A1 from refinery to aircraft, adherence to international specification checklist for aviation fuel recognised by major aviation fuel suppliers in the world and checking competencies and capacities of laboratories contracted for testing parameters of the product in the country.
He also appealed government’s intervention for easy access to forex especially to aviation fuel importers and national sensitisation and awareness on monitoring filtration phase out from all aviation handling systems in Nigeria before the deadline of July 2023.
