Air fares on Nigeria domestic routes have increased by over 68.75 percent in the last few weeks with no sign of any slow down in sight prompting airline owners to send a Save Our Soul message to the federal government.
A combination of scarce foreign exchange and an astronomical rise in aviation fuel price that has seen Jet A1 price jump from N160 to over N270 within 4 weeks in Nigeria is putting the industry at a precipice as both the travelling public and airline operators bear the brunt of the current economic climate.
In an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, Chairman of United Nigeria Airline, Chief Obiora Okonkwo called for urgent measures to stem the tide in order to save the airline industry and ensure many Nigerians who desire to travel by air are able to afford it.
Okonkwo proposed measures that include the creation of a special window for Nigerian airlines to access foreign exchange for their purchases of aircraft components and other necessary operational needs by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to him, “the cost of the fuel price, it is a great thing of concern. We started with N160. The cost component of aviation fuel is about 30 to 40 percent and when you move from N160 to N275 within a space of two months one should expect that minimum ticket sales should increase by almost 50 percent especially when the cost component is 30-40 percent. It is a great thing of concern, I don’t know what is leading to that, but I do know that everything in Nigeria is getting expensive in Nigeria.”
