Indigeneous airlines have renewed calls for intervention over the growing cost of Jet A1 (aviation fuel), warning that continued price hikes could compel them to suspend operations in the next few days.

This is as Ibom Air has lamented that its cost of operations had more than tripled in the last two months, saying that the current situation is unsustainable.

Also, the Chief Operating Officer (CEO), United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), Osita Okonkwo, in an interview with The Guardian,called on the Federal Government to give concessions to the airlines to serve as a succour to the operators in this trying period.

The operators, in separate interviews with The Guardian, declared that the cost of Jet A1 had risen to unprecedented levels, thereby placing severe strain on their ability to sustain flight services despite efforts to sustain the current fares for passengers.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of United Nigeria Airlines, Chibuike Uloka, said that although the airline had not yet reduced flight frequencies, its operations had become increasingly difficult.

According to him, the airline was now sourcing funds from elsewhere to buy fuel, warning that if the situation continued, no airline would be able to remain in business in the next few days.

He said, “For now, we have not reduced our frequencies. What we currently have is a disruption to our flights. In the last few weeks, we have had issues of bird strikes, yet our aircraft have been scheduled for the next three months.

“But the operations have been strenuous on us. If the current situation persists, no airline will be able to continue to operate in the next few days. We are dipping our hands into maintenance funds to buy fuel. Our only hope is that the current situation won’t last longer than this.”

Besides, the Communications Manager, Air Peace, Efe Osifo-Whiskey, said its domestic frequencies had not been cut, but regretted that delays had become more frequent due to difficulties in sourcing fuel.

He also confirmed that Air Peace had scaled down on its Abuja-London route from seven weekly frequencies to just three, attributing this to the high cost of aviation fuel.

For instance, he said that the Abuja-Gatwick operations, which were hitherto thrice weekly, had been cut down to just once every week.

While Abuja-Heathrow had dropped to just twice weekly.

But he assured that full operations would resume on the route from June 1, 2026, hoping that the situation would have improved on or before the due date.

Ibom Air, in a statement to journalists yesterday, said the cost of fuel on its operations had surged by over 350 per cent in the last two months.