One of Nigeria’s major airline operators, Arik Air, has announced that it is reducing its flight operations due to the lingering scarcity of aviation fuel, known as JET A1.

Ola Adebanji, the airline’s Communications Manager, made the announcement in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lagos.

Adebanji said that the scarcity started manifesting last week when major oil marketers began to ration supply of the product to airlines.

He said that Arik Air is the worst affected by the current strike which he said was occurring for the fourth time this year alone.

According to him, the airline operates an average of “over 100 daily flights” and has “a daily fuel need of about 500,000 litres.”

He said: “One of the airline’s flights to Johannesburg on Tuesday had to be routed via Port Harcourt to pick up fuel.

“As a result of the worsening supply situation of aviation fuel, Arik Air has announced further reduction in flights from Nov. 16 to cope with the fresh scarcity.”

The airline spokesman said that the adjustment will reduce unpleasant flight delays and cancellations which passengers have experienced in recent times.

Adebanji disclosed that an oil marketer had on Saturday issued a Notice to Airmen, alerting them of non-availability of the product in Lagos.

Another marketer also said his company was running out of the product in Lagos with limited supplies in Port Harcourt and Abuja.

“This development has started taking its toll on Arik Air due to the airline’s large scale operations, with flights being delayed across the country and, in some cases, cancelled especially for airports without airfield lighting,” Adebanji said.

He also appealed for the understanding of its customers whose flights were likely to be affected by the scarcity and scaling down of operations.

The Arik Air spokesman assured that the airline “would notify passengers through SMS or email messages in situation where flights would be delayed or cancelled due to the scarcity.”

There had been fears recently that the country may be headed for another scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as Petrol, but the NNPC allayed those fears, saying that it has more than 1.6 billion litres of petroleum in its stock.

The recent scarcity of aviation fuel, experts say, may not be unconnected with the renewed destruction of petroleum pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta region.