The scarcity of aviation fuel, which has
affected the industry over the past few days, became worse on Sunday as
a number of domestic airlines cancelled their evening flights out of
Lagos, while others simply rescheduled them.
Among the airlines that cancelled their
flights were Aero Contractors, Medview and First Nation, while Dana Air
rescheduled it flights out of Lagos.
As a result, many passengers, who were due to travel from the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2, had their plans disrupted.
Stakeholders in the industry had
recently estimated that the scarcity of aviation fuel had led to 50 per
cent reduction of the carrying capacities of the local airlines.
An intending passenger, who was
scheduled to fly into Abuja, explained that while some passengers made
frantic efforts to make alternative flight arrangements, several others
whose flights were cancelled left the airport in disappointment.
According to the passenger who was due
to fly Dana Air’s flight 9J 359 from Lagos to Abuja, the 5.10pm flight
was cancelled with the passengers dispersing in disappointment.
However, he later received a message
from the airline’s customer service team at about 5.50pm, informing him
that the flight had been rescheduled for 18.30 hours.
“It is scandalous and disheartening. A
lot of passengers were left confused as to what to do because most of
them seemed to have one engagement or the other to honour at their
destinations. Even the message notifying me of the rescheduling came in
after I had returned home,” the passenger said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for
Dana Air, Kinsley Ezenwa, said none of the airline’s flights was
cancelled, adding that they were instead rescheduled.
“The scarcity of aviation fuel has no
doubt been affecting flight operations generally. But we have been
trying to give the best of services notwithstanding the challenges posed
by the scarcity,” Ezenwa explained.
On its part, the management of Aero
Contractors apologised to its customers over the delay and cancellation
of some of its flights.
According to a statement by SY&T
Communications Limited, consultants to the airline, Aero explained that
it was experiencing fuel scarcity because its contract suppliers were
unable to supply Jet-A1.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority has said that the new Civil Aviation Regulations, promulgated
in December last year, will take effect on July 1, 2016.
This was contained in a circular, with reference number NCAA/DG/AOL/21/16/01, sent to all airline operators by the agency.
source:punch
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