Nigerian carrier Arik Air has announced a temporarily
suspension of further flights from Lagos via Abuja to Dubai, the United
Arab Emirates.
The flights from Lagos airport via Abuja
to Dubai were started by the airline nine months ago. However, Arik Air
announced the suspension of the service on April 29, 2015, Wednesday.
The
company also informed that the recent flight delays and cancellations
being experienced by the airline’s passengers in the last few days were
due to the scarcity of aviation fuel (Jet A1) in Lagos.
Why the route is suspended from May 4, 2015, Monday.
The reasons given by the company are:
– a challenging wider economic environment in Nigeria;
– increasingly stringent travel regulation controls in the UAE;
–
the inability of the airline to compete on the route with Emirates and
Etihad, which many air travellers see as the major players on the route
(unofficial, from a source close to a company).
With
the suspension, Arik Air became the second Nigerian carrier to stop
operations to the UAE few months after commencement. Air Nigeria had
suspended operations into the route a few months after starting them due
to unhealthy rivalry between it and Emirates Airlines.
When Air
Nigeria began the route then, the UAE carrier brought down its fares
astronomically, which affected the revenues of the Nigerian airline.
No aviation fuel = problems of the passengers?!
The
company requires a daily supply of between 600,000 and 800,000 litres
of aviation fuel. However, scarcity hit Murtala Muhammed International
Airport, Lagos, with the first signs appearing on April 23, 2015,
Thursday. As a result:
– flights were delayed or cancelled in cases where the destination airport had no airfield lighting;
– flights were diverted to other airports outside Lagos where the Jet A1 was readily available.
In
its statement, Arik Air apologised to its passengers over the
inconvenience, describing the cause as “circumstances beyond the control
of the airline.”
It will be noted that cancellations and
the bad attitude to customers by the staff of the company has recently
resulted in tensions at the MMIA, Lagos. See more in the video below:
