Domestic airlines suffer low patronage as fares soar

Domestic airlines have seen passenger traffic drop across routes in Nigeria on the back of skyrocketing prices of air tickets.

BusinessDay’s investigations show that the rise in ticket prices has discouraged many travellers from travelling in recent times.

After the suspension of passenger flights by Dana and Aero, there were expectations that few operating airlines with insufficient aircraft across Nigerian airports would result in passenger glut.

But airlines are now facing low patronage across various routes as a result of the increase in airfares.

A visit to the local airports in Lagos on Wednesday morning showed a scanty terminal with few travellers processing their boarding passes as against the usual early morning surge of travellers.

A one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja on Wednesday on Air Peace cost between N85,000 and N100,000 as against N35,000 charged in January 2022. The airline’s one-way ticket from Lagos to Port Harcourt cost between N80,000 and N95,000 as against N30,000 charged in January 2022. One-way Lagos-Kano flight also cost between N80,000 and N100,000 as against N40,000.

Green Africa, which started operations last year with Lagos-Abuja fares for as low as N18,000, currently charges between N76,000 and N89,000 on the same route. The airline also charges between N72,000 and N88,000 for its Lagos-Port Harcourt flight.

United Nigeria Airlines has also raised fares from N28,000 since February to N80,000 for Lagos-Abuja and Lagos-Port Harcourt flights.