The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has suspended its plan to ground flight services in every part of the country starting from Monday, 9 May over high cost of jet A1 used to fuel planes.
The suspension was announced after some of the major players in the industry, including Air Peace, Max Air,Dana Air and Overland announced that they will not participate in the plan to ground flight services in the country.
The Federal Government,through the Federal Ministry of Aviation had also appealed to the airline operators not to compound the economic woes in the country by grounding flight services.
Consequently, the Ministry of Aviation had assured Nigerians that members of AON were reviewing their decision to withdraw services on Monday, May 9.
The Ministry also confirmed that Ibom Air, Green Africa Airlines, Arik Air, Dana Air, and others would carry on with their normal flight schedules.
In what seemed to be a nod to that request, AON on Sunday evening said it decided to suspend its plan to ground air services in the country in interest of the national economy and security considerations.
The decision was announced in a statement jointly signed by AON President, Abdulmunaf Sarina and six other members of the association.
Read the statement from the association below:
AON ACCEDES TO CALLS FROM GOVERNMENT, SUSPENDS ACTION IN GOOD FATE
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) wishes to inform the general public that further to numerous calls from the highest echelons in government with promises to urgently intervene in the crises being faced by airlines due to the astronomic and continuously rising cost of JetA1, that the AON has acceded to requests to withdraw the action for the time being while we allow for a fresh round of dialogue with government in the hope of reaching an amicable solution.
We have also reached this decision with the highest consideration for our esteemed customers who have been faced with uncertainty over the last few days and to enable them to have access to travel to their various destinations for the time being during the period of discussions with relevant authorities.
In view of the above and in the interest of national economy and security considerations, AON hereby wishes to notify the general public that the earlier announced shutdown of operations on May 9, 2022, is hereby suspended in good fate pending the outcome of hopefully fruitful engagement with government.