Management of Ibom Air has warned that it could be forced to reduce flight capacity due to the skyrocketing prices of Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), popularly known as Jet A1 fuel, in the country.
A statement by the company’s Group Manager, Marketing and Communication, Aniekan Essienette, lamented that the cost of fueling its aircraft has more than tripled between January and today.
“From an average of N2.1m per flight in January, as at today, the 26th of April, we are paying approximately N7.6m to fuel every flight.
“This is a more than 350% increase since the beginning of March, a space of just 7 weeks! And our aircraft are some of the most fuel efficient in the domestic market”, the statement read in part.
The airline said that domestic airlines are baffled at why the price of aviation fuel in Nigeria has ballooned to current level, way above the rest of the world, adding that fuel marketers obtain 95% or more of their aviation fuel from Dangote Refinery.
“The situation is exacerbated by the fact that a combination of competitive pressures and patriotism have prevented a commensurate increase in our fares, meaning that we and our fellow domestic airlines have had to absorb the immense operating losses resulting from this situation.
“We chose to do this believing that the crisis would pass in a week or two, but it has persisted now for nearly two months, continuously increasing, with no reprieve in sight as at today”.
While the company said it continued to do everything it can to maintain normal operations, it pointed out that the current conditions are unsustainable.
“We note that, worldwide, where fuel price increases are nowhere near what we are facing in Nigeria, airlines are reducing flights to manage the situation.
“We, too, will have to take whatever ameliorating actions we can in the days ahead, including reducing our capacity if necessary, to be able to continue to provide services to our customers and our country.
“We also note that, if this situation persists much longer, airlines will not be able to continue operating just to pay for fuel and nothing else”, the statement said.
It called on fuel marketers to “seriously” reconsider the pricing of aviation fuel to make the airline business model continue to work in Nigeria.
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The development is as reports emerged that domestic airlines may embark on a 7-day shutdown starting Thursday, April 30, 2026, due to a 300% spike in aviation fuel prices.
The reported planned week-long shutdown comes after talks between the government, fuel suppliers, and airline leaders failed.
Last week’s attempts to resolve the challenges failed as the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, offered to cut some taxes by 30% and reduce airline debts.
However, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) said the measures did not address the soaring cost of fuel.
