The group, led by the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema,
stated this on Wednesday in Abuja.
They appeared before the Senate Committee on Aviation,
chaired by Senator Smart Adeyemi.
They also demanded for the prosecution of unruly passengers
at the airports.
Onyema, who claimed that on several occasions JetA1 becomes
scarce nationwide and has affected airline operations around the country, added
that at times the operators go extra mile to fulfill their obligation to
customers by looking for the fuel at the black market.
He said: “Apart from crippling issue of shortage of Jet A-1,
the marketers have been increasing the price of the product consistently in the
recent past to unbearable point.
“As at April this year, Jet A-1 fuel sold for about N230 a
litre.
“About a month ago in May, the price jumped to between N250
and N255.
“As at today the price has skyrocketed to an average of N280
to N300 a litre, depending on if you are buying in Lagos or Abuja.
“This has greatly increased our operational cost.”
The CEO of Peace Airline also hinged the cancellation and
delay of flights inadequate parking space for aircraft, explaining that during
the rush hour between 6:39am and 8:30am, there are usually between 14 and 15
aircraft departure out of the local airport in Lagos.
Unfortunately, the apron at Muritala Muhammed Airport,
Ikeja, Lagos, for instance, can only accommodate a maximum of six aircraft at a
time and the newly built apron can accommodate another three to four aircraft.
This means jostle for parking space, which also causes
delay.
Other reasons cited by Onyema are unavailability of foreign
exchange for spare parts and maintenance, sudden change of weather, day due to
VIP movement, inefficient passenger access and facilitation, delay clearance of
spare parts from Customs and inadequate screening and exit points at departure.
On unruly behaviour, Onyema called for the prosecution of
some passengers, lamenting that some have slapped their staff for no just
reason and some of their computers have been destroyed by these passengers.
But the members of the Committee kicked against the reasons
presented by the Airline Operators of Nigeria, saying something cogent must be
done by operators to address the causes of delays and cancellations.
Specifically, Senator Abba Moro said the excuses of the
Airline Operators of Nigeria is not the tradition in other countries across the
world.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Committee said the
purpose of the meeting was to address the issue of causes of delay and
cancellations in domestic airline operations in the country and also look at
the state of the airports across the country and safety measure put in place.