Business
Airlines Ration Flight Operations At PH Airport
It has been an uneasy task for airline operators at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, in terms of daily flight, since the persistence of scarcity of aviation fuel, as they now embark on daily rationing of flights to meet up.
The Tide observed that almost all the airlines, apart from the Dana Airline, whose operations have been suspended by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently, have cut down on their daily flights.
The Ibom Air that used to operate double flights daily for both Abuja and Lagos, now operates single flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt, while Airpeace dropped from two to one daily for both Abuja and Lagos to Port Harcourt.
The Max Air and the Arik Airline operations appear to be a bit stable on the Port Harcourt/Lagos route, whereas the Abuja side flights movement had dropped.
Apart from the rationing of flights, these airlines also record unprecedented delay in operations, as flights now hardly arrive or depart on the appropriate time of schedule, a situation which had kept passengers worried and murmuring.
Reacting to this development in an interaction with The Tide, one of the officers of the Max Airline (name withheld) said the problem of getting the avaition fuel, otherwise known as the ‘Jet A1’, has become a nightmare to airlines.
“It is really difficult to get aviation fuel. Apart from the fact that the price per litter has gone so high to as much as N830, it is scarce in Abuja. That is why they go on to queue in Lagos, where it is more available.
“The previous day, our flight arrived early, because we got fuel quickly. But today it was late because of the same issue of getting Jet A1, and it has affected the luggage we carry, since the flight will take sufficient fuel to enable it go round.
“It’s not been business as usual, the scarcity is affecting flight movement, and at the same time causing delay and rationing of flights”, he said.
By: Corlins Walter
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.