UPDATED: TINUBU CUTS DOMESTIC AIRLINES DEBTS BY 30 PERCENT

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Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, stated that President Bola Tinubu has agreed to a 30 percent reduction in the debts that domestic airlines owe to aviation agencies.

Keyamo shared the news on Thursday after getting a message from Femi Gbajabiamila, who is the president‘s chief of staff. “This evening, Mr. president has definitely approved a 30 percent discount,” the minister told journalists on Thursday night.

The gesture comes about 24 hours after the minister disclosed that the federal government was considering debt reduction for local carriers as part of measures to cushion the impact of the rising aviation fuel cost.

It is uncertain how much the airline operators owe the various aviation agencies, but Keyamo said the debts include parking charges for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), navigational charges to Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), “and other fees owed by the airlines).

On April 14, the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) threatened to suspend operations from April 20 over the rising cost of Jet A1.

The operators said the price of aviation fuel has increased from N900 per litre as of February 28 to N3,300 per litre — representing a rise of over 300 percent.

However, in a subsequent development, AON announced a temporary suspension of the planned suspension following appeals by the minister.

Allen Onyema, the chairman of Air Peace, who had lamented the aviation crisis, “driven largely by the steep increase in Jet A1 prices”, called for the prosecution of marketers of the product.

“The truth is that the marketers must be brought to book to explain how they got about the 300 percent increase,” he had said.

“Even Dangote is surprised, because what he is selling to us still remains the cheapest, and some of them lift from there. So why the astronomical rise?”

Onyema said airlines are under severe financial strain, noting that operators have been forced to rely on borrowing to sustain fuel purchases while struggling to maintain other critical aspects of operations, including safety and maintenance.

The airline owner also urged Tinubu to consider a “total waiver of all the debts we owe”, and “a suspension of further payment until Hormuz is open”.