BEVERLY HILLS, April 21, (THEWILL) – Nigerians may have no respite yet from the high rate of tickets on domestic flights due to the increasing cost of aviation fuel, scarcity of foreign exchange and other factors militating against flight operations in the country.
THEWILL gathered that in the first quarter of 2021, the cost component of aviation fuel, earlier sold at N160, had moved up to N270, forcing airline operators to increase the cost of tickets by 50 percent.
As at Wednesday, 21st April 2021, the one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja hovered between N50,000 and above, depending on the vendor and for which particular airline.
The increment started gradually, earlier in the year, galloping from N30,000 to N40,000 in the first quarter.
Confirming that air fares are on the high side, Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu, said what the airline charged were dependent on the economics of demand and supply.
Nuhu said that airlines were not operating fleets at full capacity due to the difficulties in accessing foreign exchange.
“That also has an impact. If one of the airlines is out of the system, you try to fill that gap. That will put extra demands on the other routes,” Nuhu added.
He however, noted that the trend was changing because most airlines now went for smaller planes in order to reduce fuel consumption.
Also speaking on why air fares were sky-bound, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the United Nigeria Airlines, High Chief Obiora Okonkwo, pointed out that the escalating cost of flight tickets bothered stakeholders
Okonkwo stated that his airline started operation when fuel price stood at N160.
He said, “When you move from N160 to N270 within a space of two months, one ordinarily would expect that the minimum ticket sales almost increased with 50 percent especially when the cost component is 30 to 40 percent. It is a great thing of concern. Surely for the industry to remain viable, certain cost components must have to be adjusted and the only way you take is through ticketing or cargo or courier.”
On why air fare seemed to be on the high side, Okonkwo pointed out that if one looked at the cost of flight operations in this industry, no amount would be too much for a ticket.
Meanwhile, aviation experts believed that airlines operating smaller aircraft had the advantage of increasing their margins and reducing operating costs.
According to Okonkwo, to make profit in the industry, an airline must be operating between 60 to 70 percent capacity.
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