By Ihechi Enyinnaya
Nigerian airline operators have called off the nationwide strike that is billed to start on Monday.
A statement on Sunday said: “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.”
Meanwhile, The management of Dana Air has said that it has taken a decision not to join the suspension of flights on Monday, May 9, 2022.
Dana Air disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, making it the second airline operator to back out of the planned suspension of flight operations after Ibom Air.
It said following the recent press statement issued by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), it became necessary for it to take a stand in the overall interest of our guests, corporate partners, staff and the industry at large.
It stated: ‘While Dana Air agrees with the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on all the challenges facing domestic airlines in Nigeria and have on many occasions actively participated in the collective and ongoing engagement of relevant authorities on the urgent need to tackle the many issues domestic airlines have been grappling with which includes the skyrocketing cost of Jet A1, we have taken a decision not to join the suspension of flights on May 9, 2022.”
It added that it acknowledged that the present cost of Jet A1 was unsustainable and should not be passed to the flying public.
It, therefore, called on the government to act urgently to resolve these unending operational challenges.
It said it would continue to support every effort by the AON to achieve a quick and peaceful resolution “in the interest of our dear country Nigeria.”