Airfares up by 97% in one year

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown that in the last year (2021 to 2022), the cost of air tickets rose by 97 percent.

According to NBS, the average cost of airfares in Nigeria increased from N37,022.97 in November 2021 to N73,267.57 in November 2022, showing an increase of 97 percent.

This was gleaned from NBS’ Transport Fare Watch report for November 2022 obtained from its website.

According to the report the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey, increased by 0.09 percent on a month-on-month basis, from N73,198.65 in October 2022 to N73,267.57 in November 2022.

The states with the highest average prices of air tickets on a single journey are Taraba (N77,100), Delta (76,500) and Bayelsa/Oyo (N76,100).

States with the lowest average prices include Niger (N67,100), Gombe (N70,000) and Nasarawa (N70,100).

READ ALSO:Nigeria tops list of countries with blocked funds for airlines in the world

The rise in airfare can be largely attributed to the aviation fuel crisis which began in late February and deteriorated further through the months of March to May.

Data shows that JetA1 rising from N200 in December 2021rose to over N400 per litre in February.

Currently, the price has skyrocketed to over N800 per litre.

Speaking recently on the rising cost of air journey, Allen Onyema, vice president of Airline Operators of Nigeria and the chairman of Air Peace warned that if nothing was done concerning the cost of aviation fuel, the fuel crisis would force airlines to suspend operations.

He explained that when airline operators decided to charge N50,000 as base fare, they looked at cost per seat and discovered that airlines would still not make profit if they charge N60,000 as base fare because multiple taxations erode the revenues of airlines.

One year ago, economic base fare for tickets were between N25,000 to N30,000 but the airline in February 2022, increased economy tickets to N50,000 and N60,000, showing a 100 percent increase.

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