The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has assured airline operators and air travelers of enough stock of aviation fuel following an increase in the uplift of fuel from Ghana, due to the shortage of the product in Nigeria.
An artificial shortage in Nigeria as a result of price hikes in petroleum products has greatly affected that country’s aviation industry compelling most airlines to lift fuel from Ghana.
[contextly_sidebar id=”fcpGvrDdVabaYmKIwNbZKfMgyaigKJRJ”]The situation Citi Business News understands caused some airlines to reschedule or cancel flights as thousands of air travelers were stranded at the airports over the weekend.
Telecommunication giant, MTN on Saturday, also warned that the network will be seriously degraded if it is unable to receive diesel within the next 24 hours.
But speaking to Citi Business News, the Manager of Business development and Statistics at the GCAA, Reverend Stephen Wilfred Arthur maintained that there is enough supply of aviation fuel to meet demand.
“The development has no immediate adverse effect on our supply of aviation fuel to the airlines…nevertheless we have a couple of weeks of sufficient aviation fuel supply of aviation fuel to ensure sustainable airline operation,” he stated.
Rev. Arthur added, “The situation has even been much better with the recent addition of the fuel supply and distribution that we have currently from the PUMA energy in partnership with the Blue Ocean investors.”
Revenue accruing to Ghana nevertheless
Meanwhile Ghana is said to be raking in revenues as a result of the development.
According to Rev. Steve Arthur, though the situation is temporarily, he contends the revenue accruing to GCAA, government and distributors of petroleum products cannot be underestimated.
“In the short term we would say yes because we have wide bodied aircrafts landing in Kotoka and making it possible for us to increase the stream revenue from landing and also the suppliers of the fuel as well as the government by way of taxes and others will also benefit. I believe that it may be a temporarily situation but that notwithstanding there are benefits that we may be deriving,” he further observed.
Meanwhile activities in the Nigerian aviation industry have returned close to normal after coming close to a halt over the weekend following a shortage in aviation fuel.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana