The naira had fallen from approximately 900/dollar to over
1,400/dollar on Monday after the FMDQ Exchange, which records data the nation’s
official exchange rate, reviewed its methodology for calculating the rate.
The review came after the Central Bank of Nigeria accused
approved foreign exchange dealers of reporting false figures.
However, barely 24 hours after the movement of the official
exchange rate, international airlines operating in Nigeria moved the exchange
rate for pricing their tickets to from about N900/dollar to N1,421/dollar.
The development led to approximately 55 per cent in
international airfares on Nigerian routes.
Findings by our correspondent on Wednesday showed that
ticket prices on Lagos-London-Lagos, Lagos-New York-Lagos, Lagos-Johannesburg,
Lagos, among other top destinations had increased commensurately.
The President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel
Agencies, Susan Akporiaye, who confirmed the sharp increased, said the
development would compound the woes of travel agencies.
“We have been feeling the pinch for a long time, and the
situation is just getting worse. People who are traveling are not doing so for
fun; they are traveling for serious business like medical or even education.
It’s no longer about leisure,” Akporiaye said.
Akporiaye explained that travelers were reluctantly parting
with money, and given a choice, they wouldn’t pay at all.
“For instance, an air ticket that used to cost $1000 has now
surged to N1.5m. The financial strain is a necessity for travelers, forcing
them to squeeze their budgets.”
She said the industry operators empathised with their
situation, with some passengers resorting to appealing and offering collateral
just to pursue their objectives and travel.
The president said the prices would undoubtedly decrease,
adding that, “I am optimistic. It’s not the fault of the airlines; rather, it’s
a reflection of the country’s economic situation.”
The NANTA leader said at the moment there was no noticeable
difference between the rates in the black market and the official window of the
forex market.
As such, she advised airlines to open up lower inventory
options to encourage travelers already financially burdened.
“I suggest that airlines contemplate offering lower
inventory options, enabling customers to access flights for maybe N1m. This
customer-centric approach recognises the financial constraints faced by many
travelers.
“The higher inventory, nearing almost N5m, shows variations
with some options open while others remain closed. It’s crucial to emphasize
that airlines are not responsible for setting the exchange rate.”
Price checks PUNCH revealed that the average airfare ticket
to some of the high-traffic international destinations like London cost N2.77m;
Dubai N2.65m; New York N3.2667m; and Johannesburg N3.05m.
For the Lagos-Johannesburg-Lagos route, depending on the
travel date, Africa World Airlines charges N2.7m, while Turkish Airlines sets
the price at N3.4m. The airfare for a round-trip from Lagos to Dubai is N2.3m
with Turkish Airlines, and N3m with Lufthansa.
An agent at Travel and Tours Limited, Maureen Chimaobi
informed The PUNCH that the naira’s exchange rate of naira to dollar is getting
worse for travelers.
“As of Monday, the
exchange rate was $1 to N1450. I don’t
know how much it sold today..”
“This ugly development is no longer only limited to the
aviation sector, prices of goods and services have generally gone up. Even
local commodities are not left out.”
On June 14, 2023, the naira fell signficantly following the
decision to allow the currency to fluctuate freely, leading to a significant
drop in its value. Since then, airlines and passengers have continued to
struggle to bear the surging air ticket prices.
Despite the currency woes, our correspondent could not
verify if there is any data to support that travel demands in Nigeria have
dropped.
The International Air Transport Association reported that
African airlines’ annual traffic rose 38.7 per cent in 2023 versus the prior
year.
“Full year 2023 capacity was up 38.3 per cent and load
factor climbed 0.2 percentage points to 71.9 per cent, the lowest among
regions. December 2023 traffic for African airlines rose 9.5 per cent over
December 2022.”
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