Yuletide: Airfares skyrocket amidst operators’ capacity crunch

A few days before Christmas and New Year, most domestic flights to some parts of the country have been fully booked while prices have gone up by over 100 per cent in some Southern routes, Weekend Trust can report. The most affected routes are the South-East and South-South destinations, which usually record increased passenger movements during […]

A few days before Christmas and New Year, most domestic flights to some parts of the country have been fully booked while prices have gone up by over 100 per cent in some Southern routes, Weekend Trust can report.

The most affected routes are the South-East and South-South destinations, which usually record increased passenger movements during the Yuletide festivities.

Our correspondent reports that a one way-flight on South-South and South East routes increased by over 100 per cent through December selling between N380,000 to N500,000.

In fact, as of yesterday, most flights to the South East and South South are fully booked for those trying to book online.

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On Friday, there was no seat on the Lagos to Port Harcourt flight on ValueJet from now till after Christmas. It is the same on Ibom Air.

Ibom Air’s flight to Uyo, its base, was also fully booked throughout December when our correspondent checked.

There was no Arik Air flight to Port Harcourt also.

“It is a tough time for passengers on this axis because of the holiday season,” a passenger, Mr Kelechi Okpara, who said he got a flight to Owerri for N500,000 one way.

“Of course, I have decided to travel by road with my family. I will just fuel my car, service it and travel by road. This can’t cost me more than N200,000 instead of spending that much on flights and that’s just return,” he said.

However, air fares between Lagos and Abuja have stabilised in recent times selling between N90,000 and N114,000 for those booking ahead of their trips.

Daily Trust reports that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had assured passengers of availability of flights with 10 more aircraft leased by domestic airlines ahead of the Yuletide festivities.

Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu had given the assurance recently, saying, “There will not be disruptions this festive season, because of the Hon. minister’s signing of the Cape Town Convention Practice Direction.

“Recently, there are 10 new aircraft in Nigeria, spread across airlines, Ibom Air, Air Peace, United Nigeria. This has ramped up the fleets in Nigeria, because we have always had capacity problems. But now, we have more planes. The disruptions are going to reduce.”

However, this has not had much effect on the holiday trip.

Flights to other smaller airports like Ilorin International Airport have also increased over airlines’ capacity issue with a one-way Ilorin-Lagos flight on Overland selling as much as N300,000

Capacity crunch blamed for airfare hike

One of the airline operators who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said airlines have fewer aircraft to operate at the moment.

He said the few aircraft operating cannot meet the present demand because of the season.

Aviation analyst and Director of Planning and Research, Zenith Travel, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo in a chat with our correspondent explained that the current situation is seasonal but worsened by existing capacity crunch in the industry.

He said, “Like I said before, it is a seasonal thing and airlines could not lease aircraft adequately because of the current rate of exchange. Some airlines probably have one or two aircraft to operate flights during this period.

“That’s why it’s hitting hard on those who want to travel. The demand has surpassed supply and when demand has surpassed supply, prices would go up astronomically and that’s what we are seeing.

“Happily, Umza Express has joined the fray, Med-View Airline is coming back. If we have more airlines, more aircraft, we would not have this kind of situation. What is happening now is due to the capacity crunch and the supply is lower than demand and it’s not matching demand and once supply is not matching demand the price will shoot up.

“We need to encourage more airlines. We also need to encourage those airports that are not being operated into now to also have smaller aircraft so we can have passengers from these airports.”