Passengers have continued to express concerns over the skyrocketing airfares, even as a one-way ticket from Abuja to Lagos hits between N109,000 and N369,000.
Checks show that Arik Air charges between N151,000 and N175,000 for Friday, October 25, which is one of the peak periods, while Air Peace charges around N151,000 to N369,000. Business Class on Arik is about N242,000 to N361,000.
Although Air Peace and Arik are not the only airlines caught in the web of increasing airfares, other airlines, including Virgin Air, United Nigeria, Ibom Air, and Aero Contractors, among others, also have their fares within the range of N100,000 to N174,000.
Airline operators have attributed the increase in airfares to volatile exchange rates, high costs of aviation fuel, increasing charges by aviation agencies, frequent delays by air traffic controls, which lead to increased fuel consumption and costs, reduced competition among airlines, and high costs of maintaining and repairing aircraft.
Other reasons include demand and supply imbalance given the growing passenger traffic during peak seasons, insufficient airline capacity to meet demand, and higher demand during holidays and special events.
Meanwhile, regardless of these factors, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has the mandate to regulate airfare pricing in Nigeria, as airlines are required to obtain clearance before increasing airfares.
According to the NCAA Act 2006, specifically Section 30 (2) (b), airlines are required to: “Obtain the approval of the Authority before increasing fares or rates charged to passengers.”
Additionally, the NCAA’s Economic Regulations (2017) state that: “No airline shall increase fares or rates without the prior approval of the Authority.”
To obtain clearance, airlines must submit a formal application to the NCAA, providing justification for the fare increase, including cost analysis, market research, competitive analysis, and other relevant factors.
The NCAA is then expected to review the application and may approve the fare increase or reject the application, request additional information, or impose conditions on the fare increase.
The regulations instituted to protect consumers from arbitrary fare increases, from all indications, have not been maintained, as airlines continue to increase fares flagrantly without much recourse to the constituted authority.
The Guardian was, however, not able to get reactions from the NCAA at the time of filing this report.
A government official who spoke to the reporter on the price hike said Nigerians should give the government one year, assuring that things will turn for the better.
The official said to boost capacity issues in the sector, the government just signed the Practice of Direction for the Cape Town Convention, which would enable lessors to lease aircraft to players in the industry, adding that it takes up to 12 to 15 months to buy an aircraft.
The official also said some foreign Italian investors and a new airline would soon commence operations, saying all this will further boost capacity in the industry, thereby reducing airfares.(Guardian)
