Mixed reactions trail 100% increment in domestic airlines fares
…Least economy tickets to be sold N50,000, effective next week
By Seun Ibiyemi, Uthman Salami and Ariemu Ogaga
Domestic airline operators have resolved to increase airfares by 100% starting from 1st of March, 2022. The decision for the increment which came after a meeting in Lagos, is expected to be across board.
Meanwhile, mixed reactions have continued to trail the increment as experts who spoke with Nigerian NewsDirect maintained different thoughts over the decision.
The resolution for the increment was adopted by all the domestic operators sees the least economy ticket now selling for 50,000 naira, instead of the previous 22,000 naira for an hour flight. There are indications that some of the airlines have already fixed some of the fares that will come into effect on March 1.
Report has it that economy class domestic ticket on Max Air outbound Jos to Abuja from March 1, 2020 sells at N50,000, while Green Africa Airlines’ Lagos to PortHarcourt goes for N35,000 as opposed to its current N16,500 fare.
Green Africa will sell its Owerri to Abuja flight tickets at N35,000, while Air Peace Lagos to Abuja will sell at N50,000. Equally, Air Peace will sell Lagos to Benin return N105,000.
Azman Air flight from Abuja to Kano from the same March 1 sells at N50,000, while Overland Airways Akure to Abuja will go for the same N50,000. Other airlines , namely, Dana, Ibom Air, Aero Contractors will also raise their ticket prices by 100% Recall the airlines, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, had issued a statement complaining about the current high cost of aviation fuel.
They disclosed that “Aviation fuel cost above N410 in Lagos, N422 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N429 in Kano per litre, while the dollar, which sells for between N580 to N600 is in short supply.”
The airlines also expressed anger at the “Unavailability of Forex for spare parts and maintenance. Airlines carry out most of their activities in dollars which today sells for between N580 to N600 and is in short supply. Nigeria’s domestic airlines are in a ‘life and death’ struggle to secure the Forex they need to acquire their spare parts to maintain their aircraft.”
“This is a major influence on how quickly a grounded aircraft can be fixed and restored to its flight schedule, which in turn has a huge impact on the schedule reliability of the domestic airlines,” the operators said.
Though the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) has not issued any statement on the new fares, a close source in the regulatory agency disclosed that the sector had been “deregulated by NCAA, leaving market forces to determine price.”
“NCAA only intervene when an airline fixes ridiculously low airfares. That can compromise safety standard as operations of any airline is capital intensive,” he said.
Reacting to the increment, an Aviation Expert and Group Captain (Rtd), John Orjikuku said, it is long overdue, he indicated that most Nigerian airlines have been living on Federal Government intervention and debts.
He disclosed that even the current prices aren’t sustainable. According to him, “The increment is long overdue. The Nigerian aviation sector have been existing on intervention from Federal Governoment, which should not be the case.
“Other Countries that sell their air ticket below $50 dollars produce their Jet A1 fuel and perhaps Aircrafts locally but Nigeria do not. It is as if the Nigeria Airlines are doing something else which fetch them money.
“Of the 5,000 passengers on Nigeria Airlines, 4,000 are Civil servants and private workers who are on work trip, hence the increment will not affect them.
“Federal government needs to charge Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and other aviation agencies on proper revenue declaration of it annual revenues.
“Most of these agencies are under declaring their revenue against the huge amount they make on a yearly basis, Lagos Airport along should declare N150 billion naira in my estimation.”
Contrary to Orjikuku’s support of the increment, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre For The Promotion Of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf said that the increment will have a very serious effect on the aviation industry.
He said “Certainly, there is going to be a reduction in passengers’ traffic, not everybody will be able to cope on the astronomical increase.
“A number of people will drop off and some of them might prefer going for luxurious buses by road, it will affect the numbers of passengers the airlines also have.
“Because what the airlines are also looking for is full capacity, flight frequency is likely to reduce.
“Government should reduce all charges that being posed on airlines because they complain a lot about charges from FAAN, NCAA and others.
“So if costs are going up the government should please review the charges from all its agencies. If you buy a ticket from an airline, almost 50 per cent of the charges goes to the agencies.
“So government should review the charges in the interest of airlines and passengers. More importantly in the interest of safety, because if the load is much on them, they might be forced to be managing things which may bring about risk.”
