NIGERIA: Arik Air Cuts Flights Due To Fuel Shortage

Nigeria’s largest airline Arik Air was forced to cut back operations Nov. 16 because of a fuel shortage. In a statement, the carrier said aviation fuel rationing began during the week beginning Nov. 7, causing delays and cancellations.

Arik Air, which operates around 100 daily flights, requires about 500,000 liters of fuel a day. As a local operator, it has been badly affected by the fuel shortage, which it said is the fourth this year.

A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), warning about the fuel shortage at Lagos, was issued Nov. 12. Supplies are also limited at Abuja and Port Harcourt.

“As a result of the worsening aviation fuel supply situation, Arik Air has announced a further reduction in flights to cope with the fresh scarcity, and reduce the unpleasant delays and cancellations which passengers have experienced in recent times,” Arik Air said. “One of the airline’s flights to Johannesburg on Tuesday had to be routed via Port Harcourt to pick up fuel.”

The fuel shortage marks a further setback for Arik Air, which was forced to temporarily ground flights Sept. 13-14 because of problems with its insurance policy.

Arik Air serves 18 destinations across Nigeria and Africa using a fleet of 28 regional, medium- and long-haul aircraft, including two Airbus A330-200s.

SOUTH SUDAN: Juba Airport Reopens For Weekend Flights

Weekend flights, which, as reported here at the time, were suspended last year to allow for the Juba (IATA: JUB | ICAO: HSSJ) airport runway to be extended and the existing runway to be resurfaced, will resume by the end of April it was learned earlier today.

While construction work on other areas of the airport is set to continue for some time, especially on aprons and a new terminal building, will at least the weekend flight ban be lifted. This ban had caused serious problems for people taken ill and requiring medical evacuation flights to Nairobi for instant treatment when reportedly no exceptions were made even for emergency medivac flights.

Travelers to and from Juba were also seriously inconvenienced and as a result were Friday and Monday flights regularly overbooked as people tried to get in or out of South Sudan by air.

Most flights into and out of Juba are operated from Nairobi by Kenya Airways and other Kenyan airlines, two daily flights from Entebbe operated by RwandAir while additional airlines flying to Juba are among others FlyDubai, EgyptAir and Sudan Airways. All these airlines are expected to amend their schedules accordingly to once again include weekend flights on Saturday and Sunday, when they get the official NOTAM from the South Sudan airport and aviation authorities.

KENYA: Kenya Airways Halts Flights To Douala, Cameroon

Kenya Airways will from the 01st to the 21st of March inclusive halt their flights to Douala, where the airport will be closed during these three weeks following a NOTAM issued by Cameroon’s aviation authorities.

Kenya Airways currently flies six times a week to Douala, and four of these flights continue to the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé. During the Douala airport closure will the flights to Yaoundé continue directly however from Nairobi. The remaining two flights, which normally stopover in Bangui, will during the three week period terminate in the capital of the Central African Republic and return directly to Kenya.

Normal flight services as per the schedules published will resume from the 22nd of March onwards, or once the NOTAM has been lifted.

It could not be ascertained what the nature of the repairs at Douala is but ordinarily, when an airport is completely closed, major runway repairs and re-sealing is carried out.

Travelers booked to Douala during the first three weeks in March will be rebooked without added cost and should expect notification from Kenya Airways in due course.