Many Nigerians have taken to social media to express their frustration about the sudden increment of economy flight fare to N50,000 by domestic airlines.
According to VanguardNGR, after a meeting in Lagos few days ago, domestic airline operators resolved to increase airfares across board by 100% with effect from next week, March 1.
The airlines include Azman Air, Max Air, Ibom Air, Arik Air, Air Peace and Dana Air.
The resolution adopted by all the domestic operators sees the least economy ticket now selling for N50,000, instead of the previous fare that costs at least N20,000 for an hour flight.
There are indications that some of the airlines have already fixed some of the fares and it’s already in effect.
Checks by MDB showed that most of the airlines have increased their base rate to N50,000 for Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Benin, Kaduna and Warri routes.
For instance, Ibom Air’s fare is N53,000 while Arik Air, Air Peace, Max Air, Azman Air, Dana Air fixed above N50,000 for an economy seat.
On the other hand, flights from Lagos to Port Harcourt are pegged at N50,750 for United Nigeria, N50,000 for Air Peace and N50,250 for Arik Air.
Aero Contractors — which was previously around N30,000 — pegged its fare at N48,365 for Lagos to Abuja while Green Airways Africa — which had a base fare of N22,000 — is now about N33,000 for economy class.
Further checks revealed that an economy class domestic ticket on Max Air outbound Jos to Abuja from March 1, 2020 sells at N50,000, while Green Africa Airlines’ Lagos to PortHarcourt goes for N35,000 as opposed to its current N16,500 fare.
Green Africa will sell its Owerri to Abuja flight tickets at N35,000, while Air Peace Lagos to Abuja will sell at N50,000. Equally, Air Peace will sell Lagos to Benin return N105,000.
Azman Air flight from Abuja to Kano from the same March 1 sells at N50,000, while Overland Airways’s Akure to Abuja will go for the same N50,000.
To make matters worse, passengers are no longer receiving discounts even if they book weeks ahead, as it was in the past.
The latest development comes few days after airlines, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) issued a statement complaining about the current high cost of aviation fuel.
They revealed that;
Aviation fuel cost above N410 in Lagos, N422 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N429 in Kano per litre, while the dollar, which sells for between N580 to N600 is in short supply.
The least ticket we sold a year ago was N23, 000 when aviation fuel was N190 and the official rate of naira to a dollar then was N340, but today, if forex is available, it is N450, but when it is not available, the alternative market is N570 to a dollar.
The airlines also expressed anger at the;
Unavailability of Forex for spare parts and maintenance. Airlines carry out most of their activities in dollars which today sells for between N580 to N600 and is in short supply. Nigeria’s domestic airlines are in a ‘life and death’ struggle to secure the Forex they need to acquire their spare parts to maintain their aircraft.
AON added;
This is a major influence on how quickly a grounded aircraft can be fixed and restored to its flight schedule, which in turn has a huge impact on the schedule reliability of the domestic airlines.
As at the time of filing this report, the civil aviation regulatory authority, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has not issued any statement on the new fares .
Meanwhile, the recent increase in ticket fares has seen a reduction in the number of passengers traveling by air.
A passenger who travelled this morning, February 22, took to Twitter to share photos of his flight, which was almost empty.
Just look at how empty a morning flight is. 50k! 100% increase in air ticket! We are finished in this country. #Nigeria pic.twitter.com/YPk81QpJQA
— Ikenna🪶 (@Furwriter) February 22, 2022
Nigerians have taken to Twitter to ask how the average citizen is to survive, considering the high cost of living.
See some comments below;
We must all rise and say no to @MaxAirLtd @DanaAir @ibomairlines @flyunitedng @flyaero @flyairpeace Arik air . 50,000 naira for a one hour domestic flight is a NO NO. Boycott these carries. #Abujatwittercommunity #PHTwitterCommunity #Notoflightfareincrease
— Elvis Nwanjah (@elvisnwanja) February 22, 2022
So local flights increased flights to 50,000. This is really disheartening. I’m tired of really being a Nigerian !!!
— ✨ (@a_phaith) February 20, 2022
Very disturbing to recall I enjoyed local flight for ₦4,999 less than 12 years ago. Average cost now more than 10X that amount at ₦50,000.
— SupermanTèo (@ezeteofilo) February 20, 2022
Why are you people not talking about this minimum rate of 50,000 for Domestic flights?
— Tired Human (@Pweitydebi) February 20, 2022
So I just checked and it’s true. Local flights are now priced at ₦50,000. Even for flights as far as August. https://t.co/4pNCpecgjm
— JACK OF MANY TRADES (@Its_WisdomDee) February 22, 2022
@flyairpeace I think somethings wrong with your site oh because you guys can never mean this 50,000 flight tickets. It must be crack pic.twitter.com/szb48mHlSK
— Spending (@timeyinxo) February 21, 2022
Flight wey we dey manage pay 24,000 now na 50,000, what fvcken wrong have we done to deserve all this misfortune?
Another reason to get your PVC pic.twitter.com/PkXTmZZ9BJ
— HOW FAR NO BE GREETING (@JosTechFarmer) February 22, 2022
50,000 flat rate for a one way domestic flight and 100,000 for a return ticket and this is for an advance booking. This is extremely crazy!
— DONDA (@TransenT__) February 21, 2022
50,000 naira will book to and fro ticket with small change sef,but now that’s the cheapest amount to get a flight ticket,this country ………………….. I’m tired 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩
— Adéolá (@MsAdeola) February 22, 2022
Hello Sir @hadisirika economy class tickets for local flights has ridiculously become 50,000 & above. Did the Government sanction this? It is extremely burdensome for travelers who are constrained to air travel because of the security challenges on the roads.
— ID/TeamLH🇳🇬 (@B_Sugarr) February 22, 2022
Incase you don’t know what APC has done. Local flights were 7,500 in 2014, it’s now 50,000 minimum.
— Olawumi🖤#LUR💛 (@biggy_orobo) February 22, 2022
Domestic Flight fares increased to 100% 😳 as in a flight within Nigeria for an average person now is 50,000 -100,000 . Like the safest and fastest way to travel ? 🤦♀️ lord abeg na #PresidentialAddress3 #Oxlade #Ashewospace
Putin Ukraine Lexi , 9ice NATO— Cross our GB ✝️✝️ (@adeyemi66006346) February 21, 2022
