Members of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have put off their planned statewide shutdown since they say the price of Jet A1 has gone up by 300%.
Reports from Saturday Guardian said that the suspension came after the federal government asked them not to raise rates or cancel flights because of the reported development.
The operators, on the other hand, said that the suspension is only temporary and that what they do next will depend on what happens at a meeting with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Wednesday.
Late yesterday, after an emergency meeting, the AON sent out a message saying what they had decided. The group called its choice “concessionary but conditional.”
The message said, “The Exco would like to make it clear that the planned shutdown action for Monday, April 20, 2026, is now called off, at least for now.”
The airlines had said they would stop operations since the price of JetA1 aviation fuel was going up. But Keyamo wrote a letter to their president on April 16, 2026, asking them to put the plan on hold. He also set up a high-level emergency stakeholders’ meeting for April 22, 2026, in Abuja, where important industry players and regulatory authorities will work together to find a practical and long-term solution to the crisis.
The minister praised the airlines for their strength since the war between Israel and the US and Iran began on February 28, 2026. He said they had kept operating even though costs were rising.
He remarked, “Let me say again that the administration of President Bola Tinubu gives the aviation sector the most strategic importance.” The Civil Aviation Act of 2022 says that the industry is still a very important national asset that is necessary for trade, national security, job creation, and general economic integration.
“You will also agree that President Bola Tinubu’s government has started reforms in the sector that have never been done before to help local businesses grow and stay in business.”
But because costs were going up, the minister had told airline operators to be careful when making decisions.
He also asked airlines to be careful when changing ticket costs, saying that any quick fare hike could make life harder for Nigerians, lower demand for flights, and make it harder for people to get on planes.
He had also warned against any planned halt of operations, saying that it may have a big effect on the economy.
He said that a shutdown would make it harder for people and goods to move around, undermine public trust in the aviation industry, and slow down improvements that are already in place.
In the last 48 hours, United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) has had a third bird strike on one of its planes.
Chibuike Uloka, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for UNA, said in a statement yesterday that the most recent incident happened to its Embraer 190 plane during the takeoff of flight UN0561 from Benin City Airport to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja at around 16:20 last Wednesday.
The airline says that the bird strike broke the connection on the aircraft’s Nose Landing Gear (NLG) door, which meant that it had to be taken out of service right away for safety checks and repairs.
Uloka said that the incident upped the total number of its planes that had to be grounded because of bird strikes to three in less than 48 hours and seven in 2026.
The airline said it was sorry that the recent events were very worrying and unacceptable. It also stressed that all impacted planes had been grounded in accordance with its strong safety rules.
The statement went on to say, “Our operating aircraft have been hit by birds many times, but we only disclose those that have caused the aircraft to be grounded because of damage.
“We ask FAAN to make wildlife hazard management stronger at all major airports to lower the risk of these kinds of things happening.”
The fact that birds are hitting planes is making people worry about safety in the air and how well Nigerian airports handle wildlife hazards.
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