Aviation fuel JET-A1
NCAA uncovers illegal aviation fuel suppliers
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it has discovered some unapproved aviation fuel (JET-A1) marketers across some Nigerian airports who are supplying the commodity to unsuspecting airlines.
The discovery follows spate of claims of contaminated aviation fuel reported by airlines in the tanks of their aircraft.
NCAA disclosed this while investigating the source of jet fuel contamination, recently discovered in some airports, following a discovery of its use among some airlines.
Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, in a virtual meeting with aviation correspondents, disclosed that the infiltration of unregistered marketers was discovered during a meeting with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission/Department of Petroleum Resources.
These unregistered fuel suppliers, he noted, were operating in Nigeria’s airports illegally.
He said the Authority was furnished with a list of approved aviation fuel companies by the DPR, but discovered that some suppliers currently operating at the airports were not on the list.
He however said the NCAA planned to intimate the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) about the development with a view to barring the illegal operators.
“Investigation is ongoing, we are doing this in collaboration with the DPR and we have got the list of all companies approved by the DPR; we found out that some were not approved, we will write FAAN about this to ensure they withdraw their services until they meet all requirements.
“Any Jet A1 supplier must be approved because it needs a lot of standards. Although, there was a gap between the DPR and NCAA, that has been closed. The issue of fuel contamination is not acceptable; no international airline has also reported fuel contamination but it is an alarming thing that needs to be looked into. We have set up a committee comprising representatives of relevant agencies to look at the entire system and make recommendations. But, it is still the responsibility of the airline, the pilot to check his fuel,” Nuhu said.
