The Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, on Thursday ruled out the possibility of airlines running their airplanes on Dual Purpose Kerosene in place of the standard JET A1 aviation fuel.Demuren, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, however, said that the agency had begun a comprehensive investigation into the activities of some oil marketers accused of selling domestic kerosene to airlines as aviation fuel.The NCAA boss said stringent measures already put in place would make it practically difficult for adulterated fuel to be passed into aircraft engines as normal fuel.He further noted that any fuel imported into the country had the approval of the Department of Petroleum Resources.He said, Every fuel that is brought into the industry is checked at all levels to ensure that it is aviation fuel. I want to assure the flying public that the aviation industry is save and secured. Nobody can import fuel without the approval of DPR.However, NCAA has summoned all the oil marketers and is looking into the allegation. We are investigating as we have in place stringent measures, which fuel marketers must comply with to supply Jet A1. We have external diagnosis such as the one by the International Air Transport Association. We want to assure that safety is not compromised in any way.Demuren said the investigation was still on and that the agency would make its findings known very soon.The NCAA summoned airlines, oil marketers and other stakeholders into an emergency session over the development.The General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Captain Joji Muhammed, said its members believed the current position of the regulatory agency on the matter until investigation proved otherwise.NCAA is the regulatory agency. Whatever they say, we believe. They have done some preliminary findings and said that the airspace is safe and that they believed that safety has not been compromised, he said.Meanwhile, Sahara Group, an oil company accused of importing adulterated aviation fuel into the country, has denied the allegation.A newspaper advertorial by the company described the allegation as false and malicious.The company claimed that an earlier advertorial by an association that accused it of selling household kerosene as aviation fuel was aimed at frustrating competition.The company said, The management reiterated that the company was a fully ISO 9001 2008 certified, adding that since 20909, IATA audits and certifications had been regularly conducted by major international airlines, which included British Airways, Qatar, DHL and Air France, among others.We state categorically that none of our customers, national or international; have ever stopped using our services due to a concern about the quality of our product, processes or facilities.
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