December rush pushes up flight ticket price as more people travel
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
December activities which pull in more air travellers have also raised single flight ticket price to N200,000 on domestic routes.
The average N100,000 per one-hour economy flight in October has doubled to N200,000 for flights to Eastern and Southern destinations, with fears of further hikes to between N350,000 and N500,000 subject to seat availability.
The price increase is also stoked by high operational costs, limited capacity, and alleged exploitation.
An average fare of N70,000 on some routes in October now goes for between N120,500, and N270,000 depending on the airline and time of booking.
Air Peace (one-way)
- Lagos-Anambra in the week before December 25 – N171,500.
- After December 25 – N66,900.
- Lagos-Enugu – between N123,900 and N266,800.
United Nigeria Airline (single ticket)
- Lagos-Enugu – between N125,500 and N220,500 per seat.
- Lagos-Anambra – between N142,500 and N200,000.
- Abuja-Anambra – between N142,500 and N220,500.
Ticket prices on the traditional routes of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano remain between N100,000 and N160,000
Unrelenting naira depreciation also adds to costs as aviation fuel now sells for N1,000 per litre, having risen 400 per cent in the past three years.
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Airlines subsiding the cost of seats
United Nigeria Airlines Chairman Obiora Okonkwo, who doubles as Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON) spokesman, explained domestic airfares for so long did not tag along with hikes in fuel price, foreign exchange (forex), and other operational costs to ensure affordable air travel.
“We are subsidising the cost of seats per flight. So, if you see fare increases now, please understand. They may still be higher because we are not covering the cost of operations,” he said, per The Guardian.
“The little adjustment is to serve the public better. It is better to fly safe, be viable and remain in business than just flying cheap and risk collapse.”
Aero Contractors Chief Executive Oficer Ado Sanusi blamed hikes in airfares on airlines that have monopolised some Eastern routes due to low capacity.
Sanusi said some airfares on some routes are exploitative, citing the South East and South South, and sought increased capacity and additional airlines to join existing operators.
“I believe that there are some exploitative tendencies and prices. I believe so, especially on the monopoly routes. The eastern routes are somehow monopolised and come with exploitative prices,” he stressed.
“It’s the capacity. If we have more airlines coming into the country and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) allows more airlines to fly, then it will bring the price down.
“The more airlines we have flying, the more competitive it becomes and the more the prices will go down, but since we make regulations that are so hostile to start-up airlines, then, the prices will always go up.”
Airline operators have routinely criticised the policy of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that mandates scheduled local carriers to have a minimum of six aircraft fleet in order to ease flight delays and cancellations.
