Foreign airlines, especially carriers from Europe and America, flying into Ghana are now making stopovers in Nigeria to buy aviation fuel as scarcity hits Ghana.
Although the Ghanaian government is trying to offer explanation for the shortage of aviation fuel in the country, airlines have had to depend on supplies from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, according to a Ghana Web report.
The report said the situation had taken a heavy toll on some domestic travellers in Ghana, whose flights had been cancelled.
This is because domestic airlines have had to surcharge GH¢15 on each ticket in order to make up for extra costs incurred from the shortage crisis.
Currently, the product is transported into the country by road from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, the Website reported.
Nigerian aviation experts said the situation occurred from time to time, adding that the country’s airlines had also depended on Ghana in the past whenever there was shortage in the country.
An aviation expert and Managing Director, Belujane Konzult, Mr. Chris Aligbe, said the current development would benefit Nigerian oil marketers only, noting that the situation would ease out in few days.
The development is, however, biting hard on domestic travellers in Ghana.
Some travellers, who arrived in Ghana from the sub-region, realised that their luggage had been left behind when they got to the Kotoka International Airport, according to Ghana Web.
Instead of packing the luggage onto the aircraft, the airlines decided to fill the aircraft’s fuel tank above the required limit in order to ward off a shortage.
In the process, pieces of luggage are transported later in the day, delaying the passengers at the airport by close to five hours.
A Ghanaian aviation analyst condemned the situation, saying it could push airline operators to short-change passengers.
He added that operators could adopt common pricing under the current circumstances. According to him, competition is key in the industry.
As a result of the situation, many international airlines operating in Ghana have had to make alternative arrangements to lift fuel from neighbouring countries.
Some stakeholders attributed the shortage of aviation fuel to challenges faced by bulk distribution companies.
The report quoted the Ghanaian Minister of Transportation, Mr. Dzifa Attivor, as saying that work on the installation of new storage tanks for aviation turbine kerosene supply at the Kotoka International Airport would be completed soon.
He did not specify when exactly the scarcity would be over.
The new ATK tanks have a capacity of 1,540,000 litres, enough to last for one month.
Aviation turbine kerosene used in the aviation industry is highly filtered to remove all impurities.
If the situation is unchecked as soon as practicable, perishable goods grounded at the KIA could go bad.
All the foregoing challenges pose a threat to a 10 per cent growth projected by the country’s civil aviation authority for the sub-sector this year.
