Retailers lament low patronage as scarcity of aviation fuel bits harder

Retailers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos have lamented the short fall of customers’ patronage in their businesses at the airport.

The low patronage is so because of the lingering scarcity of aviation fuel otherwise known as JET A1 which has not only began to have a negative impact on flight operations but on business activities at the airports as the situation bits harder.

MARKETING EDGE MAGAZINE visited the various terminals of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 2 (MMA2), and the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and discovered that business activities at the airport were low.

It was further noticed that most retailers or business owners idled away as the scarcity of aviation fuel left the traveling public more concerned about their travel plans than patronizing such businesses which was a normal routine of most passengers before boarding the aircraft.

Most of the stranded passengers seen by MARKETINGEDGE were either sitting on the floor at the various terminals or standing waiting helplessly for the situation to be ameliorated so that they could travel to their destinations.

At the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, Dana Air and Arik Air were worse hit by the aviation fuel scarcity as the airlines had several hours of flight delay and cancellation as scores of passengers at the domestic wing of the airport waited endlessly.

It was further gathered that the frustration and emotional trauma associated with the fuel scarcity could not excite passengers to go shopping at the airport.
Mr. Jacobson Omolade, a sales rep at one of the boutiques at the domestic terminal, lamented the low patronage by customers, adding that the sales had declined.

Mr. Omolade said that since the scarcity of aviation fuel began the previous week, there has been a decline on sales, adding such situations often got most passengers worried and made then shun shopping at the airports.