Passengers travelling by air for the Yuletide will pay as much as N300, 000 for an economy ticket depending on the destination, according to investigations.
Those who wish to fly to Enugu State with United Nigeria Airline from Lagos on Saturday 23rd, 24th and 27th will pay N300, 000, while those who want to travel to Asaba from Abuja on the same day will pay N200, 000 for an economy ticket.
On Air Peace flights, there are no available economy seats from Lagos to Anambra from Saturday 23rd to Sunday, December 31st. The seats available are from Monday, January 1, 2024 and it sells for N266, 800. On ValueJet, economy tickets for Saturday December 23, was selling for N118, 429, while economy ticket for Abuja to Lagos was selling for N102, 000.
On Dana Air website, an economy ticket from Lagos to Owerri, costs N250, 000, while for Ibom Air, economy seats from Lagos to Enugu for Saturday, December 23 cost N151, 000, while flights to Uyo for December 23, cost N253, 000.
On Arik Air, economy tickets from Abuja to Port Harcourt cost N142, 597, while for Rano Air, Lagos to Abuja cost N100, 000. For Green Africa, Lagos to Benin for Sunday, December 24th cost N141, 500, while Abuja to Akure cost N180, 500. On Aero Contractors, Lagos to Calabar for December 23 cost N125, 000 while Lagos to Yola cost N228, 000 on the same day.
When accused of extorting South Easterners with exorbitant fares, Air Peace released a statement saying, “The airline fare system is automated and configured in a unique way: As an aircraft seat gets fuller, the higher fares automatically get displayed. This is not just applicable to domestic airline fare system but even the international airline fare system follows the same principle. The Eastern routes’ increased demand for flight tickets/high passenger traffic this season automatically impact the way the aircraft seats get sold. The seats get sold out faster than some routes with less traffic. Therefore, the airline booking engine reservation system displays the higher fares faster even though eventually, the higher fares will get displayed on the less traffic routes as the seats get fuller, too.”
President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Susan Akporiaye, told Saturday Sun that the cause of the high cost of air fare is because of the forces of demand and supply. He said despite the exorbitant cost of tickets, most airlines are fully booked, which means that the price has not affected travel. She noted that for many years, it has been a tradition among Nigerian airlines to hike fares during the last quarter of every year, adding that by January, the prices of the fare would drop as there would be a lower demand for travel.
A few travellers who spoke with Saturday Sun lamented the high cost of air fares but said that they didn’t have a better option because, according to them, travelling by road is very risky because of the high rate of kidnapping and the bad roads.