"The funny thing is that despite the increase in fares, the flights are full" - How plane ticket prices jumped last week

Amid soaring aviation fuel prices and foreign currency shortages in Nigeria, most domestic airlines have set their minimum fare at 70,000 Naira and above this week.

A review of airfare prices on major domestic airlines such as Air Peace, Ibom Air, Max Air, and Azman, among others, shows that minimum airfare prices have increased by at least minus 40% from 50,000 naira to sold in February when the aviation fuel crisis surfaced.

Over the past few weeks, the rising cost of aviation fuel and the shortage of foreign currency have worsened. This has caused some airlines to suspend operations, while others still operating have evidently chosen to increase ticket prices in an effort to compensate for the surge in aviation fuel and dollar shortages.

They said aviation fuel has gone from around 190 naira per liter that it was selling at the start of this year to almost 1,000 naira per litre.

Before now, economy class fares ranged from N23,300 to N48,000 and above. But that's no longer the case over the past six months, as airline operators have blamed the sudden rise in ticket prices on the rising cost of jet fuel and the difficulty of accessing forex.

For example, Ibom Air fixed a flight to Abuja at Calabar at N88,000-120,000 during the week, while its flight tickets to Abuja at Uyo, Enugu, Bayelsa and Lagos soared to N96,000 and 110,000 in the week.

"The funny thing is that even with the increase in fares, the flights are filling up. We've been operating full flights these days, I'm sure if the airlines had experienced a lack of attendance passengers, they would have thought about the sudden increase in fares," said an airline official who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak on the said subject.

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Similarly, ticket prices to major cities like Lagos, Calabar, Maiduguri and Benin from Abuja on Airpeace, Azman and MaxAir soared to N82,000-85,000 during this period.

The minimum ticket price even for a three week booking on Air Peace, Ibom air, Max Air, Azman air and others was set at N70,000 with only a few instances of N65,000 being seen. This is an increase of around 200.4% from the low of N23,300 in January and early February this year.

When asked if the Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria (NCAA) was concerned about the sudden increase in airline fares, NCAA Director General of Public Relations Sam Adurogboye said answered briefly: "Certainly, we are all concerned."< /p>

“Efforts are being made by the federal government to intervene,” he added.

Last month, Nigerian Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika hinted that there was no immediate solution to the challenges plaguing the sector.

Persistent Challenges

Air travel in the country has seen significant patronage in recent years due to growing insecurity which has seen many routes taken by kidnappers. The high risks surrounding road transport have pushed more people to fly, leading to poor services as some airlines struggle to keep up with demand.

In recent months, too, the shortage of foreign exchange in Nigeria has worsened, due to the depletion of the country's foreign exchange reserves and increased demand for foreign exchange, which has further exacerbated the devaluation of the naira in official and unauthorized markets, respectively.

At the same time, international airlines have been unable to repatriate funds trapped in Nigeria. This triggered the imminent decision by Emirates Airlines to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria by September 1.

Following Emirates' announcement on Friday, the leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to invite the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and MR Sirika, among other things, about the planned suspension of Emirates Airline flights.

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