African airlines join forces to stave off potential jet-fuel price crisis

African airlines are clubbing together to negotiate better prices and a steady flow of jet fuel, a move to help stave off a potential crisis caused by supply issues and soaring costs.

A committee has been formed — including major carriers such as South African Airways and Kenya Airways — to secure deliveries for 12 months starting in July, African Airlines Association Secretary-General Abderahmane Berthe said during a briefing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

“We are in the last round of negotiations, the process will end in June,” he said.

The talks started even before a weekend of turmoil in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, where airlines threatened to stop flying until further notice in response to surging fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.