Airline Operators Attribute Increase In Fares To Exchange Rate

The increase in fares has been attributed to the current exchange rate by some local airline operators at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja.

Officials of the airlines on Monday said the aviation industry is reliant on the dollar because aircraft parts can only be obtained from abroad.

Kehinde Ogunyale, Max Air station manager, said: “We need to catch up with the economy. That is why we increase the fare. If not, we may be left behind and will not be able to fund operations anymore”.

“The fare actually went up. From Abuja to Lagos last week, the highest fare was ₦35,300 (economy class) and ₦80,000 (business class). From Abuja to Lagos at present, the highest fare is ₦60,000 (economy class) and ₦98,000 (business class).”

Ogunyale explained that the festive season also contributed to the fare increment.

“We are in traditional high season. The demand has outweighed capacity. After this period, we are going to a period called the low season. That is the middle of January when nobody will want to fly.

“So, in order to attract passengers, we will need to lower down the prices. As I said, this is the high season.”

Abdulmalik Jibreel, the station manager of Aero Contractors, the company had no option than to increase the fare to meet the demand of foreign exchange in the market of aircraft parts.

“Government should make a certain percentage for the airlines of FOREX as a special price by Central Bank of Nigeria. By so doing, this may make ticket fare to drop,” he explained.

“Government needs to step into the aviation sector because we do not manufacture any part of aircraft in Nigeria. One of the previous administrations in the country once waved custom duty on all spare parts of aircraft.

“Government needs to take all these steps to make the aviation sector viable. If not, masses will pay for it.”

Checks also showed that an Azman Air Lagos-Kano economy flight ticket that used to cost ₦30,000 now goes for ₦55,000.

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James Odaudu, director for public affairs at the ministry of aviation, said the ministry did not have any power to fix ticket prices for airlines.

“The ministry does not have the power to fix tickets prices for airlines. If airlines feel they can increase their tickets, others should take advantage of lowering their tickets prices,” he said when contacted for comments.

“Masses should learn to patronize the ones with lower prices. The others will be forced to go with market forces. It is all about the forces of demand and supply.”