The chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Dr Obiora Okonkwo, has said that domestic airline operators were yet to enjoy the palliatives promised by the federal government to cushion the effect of the high cost of JET A1 also known as aviation fuel.
Obiora stated this in an interview with journalists in Abuja, after his coronation as the national patron of Ndigboamaka Progressive Market Association.
He said the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) suspended its industrial action following government’s intervention and the promise to take steps to cushion the effect of aviation fuel scarcity vis-à-vis the high cost of the product.
Okonkwo said the measures promised by the government were still at the implementation stage.
Nevertheless, he expressed optimism that the government would soon start the implementation of the palliative measures.
“Nothing much has changed except that the government of the day was very magnanimous, kind, listened to us (airline operators) and put a lot of things in motion to sustain the impact of the aviation fuel price increase.
“We are very happy and grateful to them but the truth of the situation is that those initiatives taken are still at the implementation stage. It has not been fully implemented, so we are not feeling the impact yet.
“Aviation fuel has continued to rise but I can tell you that some of those promises have been implemented and the impacts, we hope, we will feel soon.
“For that reason, the aviation industry continues to struggle. But we thank the travelling public for their understanding,” he said.
