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Aviation sector suffers 70% loss due to fuel scarcity, weather hiccup

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Aviation sector suffers 70% loss due to fuel scarcity, weather hiccup

More tales of woes visited the Nigerian aviation sector in the month of December 2016 as fuel scarcity and turbulent harmatan haze led to disruption of flights.

According to compilations from the industry about 70 per cent of flights from the various airports across the country had to be cancelled during the period.

The situation, which led to a loss of flight tickets, valued at about $400 million, within the last two months to the end of 2016 is said to be the worst in the history of the industry in Nigeria.

According to Sam Oduagbesagha, spokesmen of the Nigerian Civil Aviation authority (NCAA), the last month of 2016 was recorded as one of the worst operational losses for the industry because December of every year is usually projected with best returns in the business.

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“The problem became more turbulent on many fronts including scarcity of aviation fuel, inconsistent foreign exchange regime, and bad weather, which made it impossible for industry players to meet their projection for the year.

Though the CBN in the middle of December had announced selling $1 billion directly to stakeholders in both the aviation industry and the manufacturing sector, reports say there is yet to be any appreciable improvement on the part of the major players to clear back log of dollars in settling their debt commitments to both local and international creditors.

But the worst that has been plaguing the aviation industry since December is the harmattan haze, which has been largely responsible for the cancelation of over 70 per cent of flights from the various airports across the country.

The Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) said signals indicating that the bad weather may linger longer than is expected had been communicated to the players.

The agency, whose responsibility is to clear aircraft before take-off, is said to have from December 20 to 31, advised the 10 operating airlines in Nigeria to either delay or totally cancel their scheduled flights due to bad weather.

 

 

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