The premium price of aviation fuel and the attendant hike in fares have dampened hopes of average Nigerians travelling by air.

The current air travellers incur higher air travel costs, which are far higher than the minimum wage and pay grade of most workers.

Checks by The Guardian showed that return tickets from Abuja to Lagos cost up to N150,000, while tickets from Lagos to Kano can cost anywhere from N150,000 to N200,000 naira, depending on when the ticket is purchased.
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In addition, the cost of the Abuja to Kano flight on Air Peace is between N74,000 and N80,000, whereas the same journey on Max Air is between 74,000 and N100,000. In the same vein, a ticket on Max Air from Abuja to Maiduguri now costs N90,000, while on Azman Air it costs N130,000 for a trip from Lagos to Kaduna.

Air Peace charges N140,000 to N160,000 for a return ticket from Abuja to Kano, while a one-way ticket is available for N78,000. The cost of a roundtrip ticket from Abuja to Gombe is N150,000, while a one-way ticket is N75,000.

A one-way ticket costs an average of N100,000 for the Abuja to Port-Harcourt route and between N75,000 and N100,000 for the Abuja to Lagos route. For Air Peace, a one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja currently costs N80,000, but if the trip is taken within 24 hours, it may cost as much as N150,000.

Air Peace’s one-way ticket from Lagos to Enugu now costs N150,000. With fares ranging from N125,500 to N220,500 per seat, United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) provides flights between Lagos and Enugu, Lagos and Anambra, and Abuja and Anambra.

The cost of a ticket from Lagos to Abuja in 2021 and 2022 was between N25,000 and N30,000. But as of right now, depending on when it’s bought, a one-way ticket on the same route can cost anything between N100,000 and N120,000. This indicates that in less than two years, the cost of airline tickets has increased by 300–400 per cent.

The question lingering in the mind of the average Nigerian is “When will they fly?”. With the soaring prices, which would predictably never come down, air travel is beyond the reach of average Nigerians.

The average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes for a single journey was N88,964.86 in March 2024, indicating an increase of 1.10 per cent compared to previous month (February 2024). On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 18.96 per cent from N74,782.43 in March 2023.

At the new RoE, uniformly used by the Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) of airlines, a six-hour Lagos to London Economy Class ticket now ranges between N1.1 million to N4.2 million – subject to airline of choice, place, time of booking and availability. Its business class variant sells for between N3 million and 12 million.

The average cost of a return Economy Class ticket from Lagos to London via Qatar, with a layover in Doha, has increased to N1.8 million. The current range for its business class is N3.6 million to N5 million.

In the “assorted” class, the cost of its economy return ticket on the flagship African Carrier, Ethiopia (via Addis Ababa) ranged from N1.3 million to N4.2 million. For the business class numbers, it was between N2.4 million and N13.6 million.

On the top end are legacy airlines like Virgin Atlantic (VA) and British Airways (BA). The average cost of a direct BA trip from Lagos to London is N1.8 million for economy class and N4.41 million for business class.
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The typical Nigerian can no longer afford air travel due to these consistent rises.

“I couldn’t believe that there was a time I could board a plane from Lagos to Abia for N20,000. I don’t think people like us can fly in the next five years. Like, the prices are not coming down or becoming affordable for ordinary citizens like us.” a Kwara-based businessman, Adeola Jimoh, lamented.

Architect and Fashion Designer, Eunice Okafor, said because of security concerns, she prefers to travel by air but flying has become increasingly expensive and uncomfortable.

According to her: “It’s just pure extortion. Airlines rely on unfavourable circumstances to defraud passengers. The topic of contention is the rise in aviation fuel. However, as everyone is aware, airport fees and other taxes typically make up more than 50 per cent of the ticket price, with the actual airline rate making up less than 50 per cent of the total. Is it true that the additional fees are doubling along with the increase in aviation fuel? The government and airline companies should ease up and quit pushing Nigerians beyond their means.”
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