Airfares in new climb above N56,000 reported by NBS
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Travelling by air now costs N75,000 per hour in Nigeria with fears it may rise beyond N100,000 in the coming months, just a week after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported fares rose to an average N56,082.64 per trip in June.
An economy class round trip ticket from Lagos to Abuja on Arik Air, United Nigeria, and Air Peace costs more than N150,000 and other airlines have followed suit.
“This is not the time to ask for my name, the federal government and all those concerned should do the needful, why does the average Nigerian have to suffer.
“I mean, we are a fuel producing nation, why are we suffering?” asked an angry frequent traveller who gave his name simply as Ubong.
“Everybody is just doing as they like, how can you say Lagos to Abuja is N154,000, am I plucking money from the tree?
“The roads are not safe, so travel by road and get kidnapped. Those that were kidnapped on the train how many months ago are still in captivity. In which account will I write this expense?”
Another traveller, Nike, said: “The Nigerian travelling populace is made up of mostly business people, should we now spend all our earnings on air transport? I can’t even begin to explain how this makes me feel.”
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Holding leaders accountable
“This just means things are getting out of hand, because how do you explain this? Who do we hold responsible now? Jessica Joseph, another traveller, told The PUNCH.
“Our leaders, the cause of all this, have money to fly around as they like, their jets are fully powered on taxpayers’ money yet it is the tax payers that are suffering. Imagine, what if I now want to fly out of Nigeria, na to rob bank o, abi?”
A man who spoke on condition of anonymity lamented that “I came here today hoping I could fly my family of four from Abuja to Lagos for the summer holidays but here I am, confused. I’m not even sure I want to go to Abuja again.
“I’m just grateful I had not rushed to tell my children my plan, else I don’t know what I would have done. Something has to be done to salvage this situation, urgently too.”
The increase in price of aviation fuel (Jet A1) and its scarcity is a contributory factor to the hike in fares. Jet A1 which sold for N400 per litre now goes for N800. Airlines have also complained about not being able to get foreign exchange (forex).
Air passengers have increased nearly 30 per cent in the past three years and there is still an ongoing huge demand.
Figures compiled by the Consumer Protection Directorate of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) show that about 15 million domestic and international air travellers passed through the airports in 2018.