Fidelia Okafor.

About 38.7 million litres of aviation fuel has been imported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in order to tackle with the prevailing scarcity of aviation fuel and its impact on airlines and air travellers.

According to the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, he disclosed that the imported 38.7 million litres is expected to last for 26 days.

The scarcity of Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) also known as Aviation fuel led to the increase in air fares last week and also the cancelling of scheduled air flights, leaving most passengers stranded.

In a statement made by the NNPC in Abuja, the country had a 40 day sufficiency of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, Automotive Gasoline Oil (AGO) and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) to satisfy national demand throughout the festive period and beyond.

Baru stated that in the build-up to the Christmas period, the NNPC had exceeded marketers’ demands.

He however assured Nigerians that the Corporation would make petroleum available at all times.

A couple days back, NNPC revealed that the Port Harcourt refineries would soon begin the production of aviation fuel.

The aviation fuel scarcity posed a major obstacle and problem to passengers travelling for the festive period and also to airlines.