Exorbitant airfares are not responsible for decreased air travel across Nigeria currently being experienced, airline operators said in Lagos on Saturday.
Those who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the fall in air travel was attributable to the normal low season in the industry and not the cost of the fare.
Fares confirmed online by NAN on Saturday showed that the Lagos to Abuja flight on Arik Air costs N132,976; it costs ₦150,000 on Ibom Air, while United Nigeria Airlines charged ₦142,500.
Aero Contractors’ fare on Saturday for a flight from Lagos to Abuja was ₦196,548; Air Peace charged ₦143,000; Max Airline charged ₦78,000, while Dana Airlines charged ₦99,000.
At peak season in December, the same Lagos to Abuja flight costs between N230,000 and ₦300,000.
Achilleus Uchegbu, Head, Corporate Communications at United Nigeria Airlines, told NAN that in most cases, the cost of a ticket did not affect a passenger’s choice to travel.
“One cannot talk about low capacity when people are travelling; one cannot force people to travel. People travel when they want to travel.
“Based on that, one cannot say that the turnout of passengers is low; there is no study to back that up. Even when fares were very high during the Christmas season, people still travelled,’’ he said.
He noted that fluctuating airfares were blameable on unstable foreign exchange rates.
In his reaction, Adebanji Ola, Head of Corporate Communications, at Arik Air said the low season in the industry was not strange as it happened annually.
“There is nothing happening that is new; it is just that this is the low season for the industry. We can begin to assess passenger turnout around April or May,’’ he said.
Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, a senior official of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd., operator of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, Ikeja, noted that the airport was not empty and terminal operations were going smoothly.
She said that with the Christian Lenten season and the Islamic Ramadan fasting going on simultaneously, air travel would reduce.
An Abuja-bound air traveller, Doma Doma, told NAN that he would not blame the airlines as they were bound to review their rates as the exchange rate fluctuates.