Yemisi Izuora
The chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has suggested to the federal government to remove customs import duty on petroleum products, as a way of reducing the landing costs of the product.
Such intervention, he said, is the only form of subsidy that should be given to fuel marketers in order to reduce the price of aviation fuel which currently oscillates between N190 to N200 per litre.
Speaking in Lagos, Onyema said that many airlines are struggling to keep their operations afloat at the current price of aviation fuel, as the attendant increase in the price of aviation fuel, occasioned by scarcity, is having huge impact on airline operations.
He said the airlines are hugely impacted by the scarcity of the aviation fuel, which has brought about corresponding increase in the cost of running the business.
The airlines boss said government should work out a solution to the incessant strike by fuel marketers, which he said, was a ploy to frustrate government.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to address the issue of subsidy, which he described as fraudulent and unacceptable.
He said the instability created in the fuel supply chain by the fuel marketers should be urgently addressed by fixing the refineries to make the product available.
“Buhari should not succumb and allow this kind of business to stand ,he should reject the blackmail from fuel marketers and the entire country will stand by him”. “Government should put measures in place to fix the refineries. The claim of marketers on the landing costs of fuel is bogus. From available information, the landing cost of a litre of fuel is not up to N50”, he added.