Aviation Fuel Crisis : Industry group prescribe recovery pills for govt, airlines

 Aviation Fuel Crisis : Industry group prescribe recovery pills for govt, airlines 

Air transport think tank group and safety advocate : Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), has prescribed a bouquet of interventions in resolving the escalating cost of aviation fuel, saying the Federal Government needs to urgently establish a National Energy Price Protection Program (NEPPP).

The establishment of the body, the safety group said has become compeling because Nigeria’s aviation sector stands at a critical inflection point with the  Jet A1 crisis,which has occasioned  liquidity strain on airlines.

The ASRTI said  the cascading financial pressures across airports, concessionaires, and ground handlers have converged into a systemic emergency , creating a distortion that threatens the survival of our airlines and, by extension, the entire aviation ecosystem.

In a letter of appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of the National Assembly and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development , signed by the  ASRTI President ,  Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju (rtd) urged the government to  stabilise the system by  putting in place  a corrective, time‑bound Jet A1 refund mechanism. 

This , he said, should not be a subsidy ,  but a temporary parity‑restoration measure.

 He said : "Government should contract six months of Jet A1 supply at negotiated parity prices, covering the hardship period of February to April 2026, and extend corrective supply for an additional four months while global markets stabilise. This mechanism must be transparent, audited, and publicly reconciled to ensure that refinery‑gate prices align with depot and gantry prices. Next, a narrowly targeted emergency stabilisation package for airlines is essential."  He said airlines require short‑term, low‑interest bridge loans and working‑capital guarantees to cover immediate cash‑flow shortfalls and essential operational costs. 

These funds, he said, must be tied to strict milestones: safety compliance, payroll continuity, and uninterrupted essential services.

 "Each airline should submit a concise liability‑cleanup plan detailing how funds will be used to retire or restructure verified debts to ground handlers, fuel suppliers, and agencies. All support must be conditional on independent verification and governed by a strict sunset clause to prevent the emergence of permanent subsidies.

"Parallel measures must protect ground handlers, concessionaires, and other service providers while airlines are stabilised. 

"Options include emergency liquidity advances, short‑term rent freezes or deferrals, and promissory commitments for verified renovation and investment losses, " he noted. 

 On the Federal Government  30 percent  mandated haircut on specified debts, the ASRTI President said it has to be consistent with the approach already applied to  aviation agencies.

 He said : "Such a mechanism   is necessary, but it must be used sparingly, only after independent valuation, and only for verified operational receivables. Any such relief must be paired with protections for frontline workers, including wage continuity and severance guarantees, and must include safeguards against moral hazard.

"To ensure transparency and accountability, a neutral reconciliation vehicle should be established to process payments, advances, and concessions.

 Each beneficiary should receive a one‑page reconciliation statement, and an independent auditor should certify outcomes at the end of the relief window. 

"No entity receiving support should be allowed to compromise safety, maintenance, training, or regulatory compliance.

"Beyond emergency measures, structural reforms are indispensable. A comprehensive overhaul of the aviation charging ecosystem is overdue. 

"A top global advisory firm should be engaged to audit airport charges, passenger levies, navigation fees, parking and ground‑handling tariffs, and other provider charges.

 "This review must benchmark Nigeria against international standards, eliminate duplications, and produce a phased roadmap to reduce the share of taxes and charges embedded in fares. 

"These reforms should be accompanied by revenue‑transition plans for affected operators to ensure sustainability. To prevent future crises, a National Energy Price Protection Program (NEPPP) should be established.

 These rules‑based frameworks should include a volatility buffer fund, mandatory price transparency across the supply chain, and a logistics‑cost rationalisation audit."

 He said the  Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission should be empowered to investigate refinery‑to‑gantry spreads, airport delivery margins, and any anti‑competitive practices that distort pricing.

The ASRTI President went on : "Looking beyond stabilisation, Nigeria must embrace a medium‑term growth strategy—“Fly Nigeria, Fly”—to expand access, stimulate demand, and unlock the aviation sector’s economic multiplier. This programme should combine tax and charge rationalisation, route‑development incentives, PPP‑driven regional airport upgrades, and investment in cargo and cold‑chain logistics. It should set measurable targets for passenger growth, connectivity expansion, and export development. It should also catalyse private investment in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, pilot and technical training, and domestic leasing to support sustainable fleet renewal.

"Finally, communication must be clear, timely, and transparent. The public must understand that the corrective fuel mechanism is temporary, that liquidity support is conditional, and that structural reforms will follow once stability is restored.

"An independent ombudsman should oversee the entire process to ensure fairness, credibility, and public trust.   Time is not on our side. The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of decisive, targeted intervention. 

"The aviation sector is not merely a mode of transport; it is a national economic artery. To allow it to fail would be to impose a far greater burden on the Nigerian people and economy.

"The path forward is clear: stabilise the airlines, protect the ecosystem, restore fair pricing, enforce accountability, and build a stronger, more competitive aviation sector for the future."