A recent visit by BusinessDay to the three busiest terminals
in Nigeria — Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos (MMA2), General Aviation Terminal
(GAT), Lagos and Abuja local airport terminal — shows few passengers being
processed to travel.
In most cases, only arriving passengers are present at these
airports, as most airport workers decry low patronage because of rising fares.
“The past two weeks have been like this. Once the first and
second flight leaves the airport, passengers become scarce. Most times, we
struggle to fill up the aircraft and even when we delay the flight for an hour
or more, the passenger number will still be sparse and discouraging,” an
airline staff said.
The staff also disclosed that in recent times, airlines have
had to help one another airlift passengers going to the same destinations and
share proceeds from the flight to avoid rising operational costs.
“Aviation fuel is costly now and airlines sell tickets in
naira but pay for spare parts and tickets in scarce dollars. It would be bad
economics for an airline to have an aircraft with 150 passenger capacity to
carry just 50 passengers on the flight. It will only amount to losses.
“It only makes sense for the airline to partner with another
to airlift passengers as long as they go to the same destinations. This will
reduce costs and help save money” the staff said.
Aviation fuel currently takes about 45 percent of the
operating cost; labour takes 17 percent; aircraft rent and ownership takes 8.5
percent; non-aircraft rents and ownership, 7 percent; professional services,
4.5 percent; landing fees, 2 percent; food and beverage, 1.5 percent;
maintenance materials, 13 percent, and transport related, 1.5 percent, finding shows.
It cost about $3,000 to operate a B737 aircraft on a
one-hour flight when aviation fuel was less than N100 per litre about five
years ago. Similarly, when aviation fuel increased to N200 per litre, airlines
operated a B737 aircraft at about $6,000.
According to a report, the current exchange rate and
increase in aviation fuel, which currently cost about N1,300 per litre,
airlines operate a B737 aircraft for over quadruple that amount.
Airlines are also faced with increasing naira to a dollar
rate pushing the cost of fares up.
Findings show that a one-way economy class ticket from Lagos
to Abuja which cost N55,000 a few months ago now costs between N100,000 to
N150,000 on Air Peace; N90,000 to N160,000 on United Nigerian Airlines; N70,000
to N130,000 on Dana Air and N170,000 to N200,000 on Ibom Air.
A one-way economy class ticket from Lagos to Abuja which
cost about N50,000 some months back now costs N105,000 to N160,000 on Air
Peace, N95,000 to N120,000 on United Nigeria Airlines, and N175,000 to N200,000
on Ibom Air.
A one-way economy class ticket from Lagos to Port Harcourt
which cost about N55,000 some months back now costs N105,000 to N160,000 on Air
Peace, N85,000 to N100,000 on United Nigeria Airline, N65,000 to N125,000 on
Dana Air, N96,000 to N130,000 on Ibom Air and N86,000 to N170,000 on Arik Air.
Mazi Osita Okonkwo, Chief Operating Officer (COO), of United
Nigeria Airlines said “Currently, aviation fuel has increased to N1,300 per
litre or even more. Forex is over N1,000 for one dollar. So, if we are leasing
aircraft, how do we pay for the aircraft, having paid for spare parts? The
minimum cost of airfare should be $100.
“So, I don’t even see how you can fly for less than N150,000
and you will make a profit. Anybody telling you he is making it is not telling
you the truth. Once the cash runs out, you will see operators parking their
aircraft as some have done already.
“Today, we had other operators saying they wanted to
transfer their passengers into our aircraft because it doesn’t make sense to
fly 50 passengers in a 150-seat capacity aircraft. People are burning cash,”
Okonkwo said.
He called on Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and
Aerospace Development, to intervene.
He said local airlines need cheap loans, forex, and lower
country risk as lessors will charge more when operators are from Nigeria,
whereas, operators from other countries get cheaper insurance.
Ndukwe Ginika Ogechi, CEO Geena Travels And Tours Ltd also said
that the turnout of passengers on local destinations has been scanty lately as
a result of the costs of tickets.
“The aircraft on local destinations are barely full these
days because people cannot afford the fares, yet these airlines have refused to
reduce fares. I’m not even sure they make profit anymore as a result of low
patronage,” Ginika said.
Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha & Chigozirim Enyinnia -
BusinessDay
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