Yuletide: Passengers Lament High Cost of Air Ticket

Nigerians travelling to various parts of the country for the festive celebration are having to struggle to pay for air fares and bus fares which have since risen to over 100 percent.

A visit to major car parks around old Ojo area of Lagos State such as Liberal Motors, Peace park, The Young and God is Good show passengers in their numbers seeking to buy tickets and some of whom sought discounted prices.

A bus ticket from Lagos to Enugu, Owerri and Onitsha which was sold for N10,000 to N12,000 now cost about N22,000 to N25,000.

Passengers moved from one bus terminal to another seeking best deals.

“This is the third car park I’m coming to this morning and yet I can’t even get N18,000 a ticket to Enugu. Just last month the price was N10,000. How they moved from N10,000 to N22,000 is simply wickedness. Things are tough for people, yet these transporters look for ways to frustrate people the more and exploit them,” Chika Okafor, a prospective passenger at Peace Mass told Business Day Sunday.

Another passenger, who identified himself as Chika, told BDSunday that he had made plans that he would travel with his brother to the village for their sister’s traditional marriage but had to change his mind and decided to travel alone when he found out the cost of transportation to Asaba.

“I can no longer travel with my younger brother to the village for our sister’s traditional marriage. I have to go to the village alone. I earn N100,000 as monthly salary and I take care of my younger brother since our parents died. If I’m paying almost N23,000 for a one-way journey to the East, this will be roughly almost N50,000 to and fro.

“I need some money to still take care of myself and other expenses. Where do I get such money? So, it is only wise to let my brother stay while I manage to travel. The struggle is real,” Chika lamented.

For those who decided to cut cost by not travelling but sending food items to their loved ones in the village, they are also paying heavily to transport the items.

At the Young Shall Grow park in Mazamaza Lagos, people pay between N10,000 and N13,000 to transport a bag of rice to the East.

“I paid N10, 000 to send a bag of rice to my parents this morning. Cost of transportation to the village is very high so, I thought to cut costs by just sending it to them. I was shocked when I got to The Young car park and was told that it will cost N13,000 to send the rice home. I had a budget for N5,000 because the last time I sent rice to the East, it cost just N4,000. I had to beat down the price to N10,000. The cost of everything is so high and people are really suffering this period,” Vivian Ogonna told BDSunday.

Air travellers are also facing a similar issue as cost of air fares have also risen.

A recent visit to the Lagos local airports showed a busy terminal with travellers processing their boarding passes.

A one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja on Wednesday on Air Peace cost between N85,000 and 120,000 as against N35,000 charged in January, 2022. Also the airline’s one-way ticket from Lagos to Port Harcourt cost between N90,000 and N120,000 as against 30,000 charged in January 2022. Lagos to Kano one-way flight also costs between N80,000 and N120,000 as against N40,000.

Green Africa, which started operations last year with Lagos-Abuja fares for as low as N18,000 currently charges between N70, 000 and N85, 000 on the same route. The airline also charges between N75,000 and N85,000 for its Lagos-Port Harcourt flight.

United Nigeria Airlines have also raised fares from N28,000 since February to N90,000 for Lagos-Abuja and Lagos-Port Harcourt routes.

Stakeholders say fares may still rise as aviation fuel has become scarce.

Air passengers travelling for Christmas this season may be faced with flight delays and cancellations as a result of aviation fuel scarcity across several states in Nigeria.

The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) on Tuesday alerted the general public to impending disruptions in scheduled flight operations due to the scarcity of aviation fuel, otherwise known as JET-A1.

According to AON, the scarcity has “reared its ugly head again in the past few days.”

According to the airline operators, the scarcity will no doubt force them to reschedule flights leading to late operations and, or, cancellations.

A statement by Obiora Okonkwo, spokesman, AON, read in part: “This unintended development is a pain on airline operators and a stain on the industry especially at this time of mass movement of people for the Christmas and New Year festivities.

“While we do our utmost best to manage the situation and ensure safe flight operations, we plead the understanding of the travelling public in the circumstance.”

The aviation fuel crisis which began in late February and deteriorated further through the months of March to May, has further worsened and is currently threatening the ability of airlines to continue operations with the price of JetA1 rising from N200 in December 2021 to over N400 per litre in February. Currently, the price has skyrocketed to over N800 per litre.

Allen Onyema, vice president of AON and the chairman of Air Peace, had earlier in the year warned that if nothing was done concerning the cost of aviation fuel, the fuel crisis would force airlines to suspend operations.

“Aviation fuel prices may take airlines out, not only in Nigeria but everywhere in the world. Some airlines outside Nigeria have shut down because of the rising cost of aviation fuel. If these things are not addressed in Nigeria, it can affect the bottom line of all airlines in Nigeria,” he said.

He explained that when airline operators decided to charge N50,000 as base fare, they looked at cost per seat and discovered that airlines will still not make profit if they charge N60,000 as base fare because multiple taxations erode the revenues of airlines.

One year ago, economic base fare for tickets were between N25,000 to N30,000 but the airline in February 2022, increased economy tickets to N50,000 and N60,000, showing a 100 percent increase.

Airline operators have since increased base fare from 50,000 to over N100,000 depending on the price of aviation fuel.

December 26, 2022