Passengers groan as Abuja-Lagos flight tickets hit N108,000, N369,000

Passengers have continued to express concerns over skyrocketing airfares, as one-way tickets from Abuja to Lagos hit between N109,000 and 369,000.

Checks show that Arik Air charged between N151,000 and 175,000 for flights of Friday, October 25, which was one of the peak periods, while Air Peace charged between N151,000 and N369,000.

Business Class on Arik was between N242,000 and 361,000.

Other airlines, including United Nigeria, Ibom Air, Aero Contractors, among others, have their fares between N100,000 and 174,000.

Airline operators have attributed the increase in airfares to volatile exchange rate, high cost of aviation fuel, increasing charges by aviation agencies, frequent delays by air traffic controls, which leads to increased fuel consumption and costs, reduced competition among airlines and high costs of maintaining and repairing aircraft.

Other reasons include demand and supply imbalance, given the growing passenger traffic during peak seasons, insufficient airline capacity to meet demand and higher demand during holidays and special events.

Regardless of these factors, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has the mandate to regulate airfare pricing in Nigeria as airlines are required to obtain clearance before increasing airfares.

According to the NCAA Act 2006, specifically Section 30 (2) (b), airlines are required to: “Obtain the approval of the authority before increasing fares or rates charged to passengers.”

Additionally, NCAA’s Economic Regulations (2017) state: “No airline shall increase fares or rates without the prior approval of the Authority.”

The Guardian was, however, not able to get reactions from NCAA at the time of filing this report.

A government official, who spoke to the reporter on the price hike said Nigerians should give the government one year, assuring that things would turn for the better.