Business

Dollar Scarcity: Airlines Raise Fares by 100%

Published

9 years ago

March 28, 2016

The lingering foreign exchange scarcity, which has made it difficult for foreign airlines to repatriate their ticket sales proceeds for several months, has forced the carriers to increase their fares by about 100 per cent, OLAWUNMI OJO writes

Foreign exchange risk is now a major component of airfares on Nigerian routes, the country managers of top foreign airlines have revealed.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the airlines operating on international routes in the country had increased airfares by as much as 100 per cent as a result of the development, Punch reported.

A survey of all the major Nigerian routes flown by the foreign airlines in the country showed that the cost of return tickets had been increased by between 80 per cent and 120 per cent of the previous fares, depending on the carrier, time of booking and the season.

The survey cuts across Nigeria-North America routes, Nigeria-South Africa route, and Nigeria-Europe routes. Airfares on the Lagos-London, Abuja-London, Lagos-New York, Lagos-Atlanta, Lagos-Houston, and Lagos-Johannesburg routes were examined.

Findings also showed that local airlines operating international flights, especially Arik Air and MedView Airlines, had increased their airfares.

For instance, airfares on the Lagos-London and Abuja-London routes now cost an average of N380,000 for the economy class seat, as against the average of N200,000 a year ago on the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways. This represents an increase of 111 per cent.

Similarly, on Air France, an economic ticket on the Lagos/Abuja-London routes now goes for about N360,000, while Lufthansa German Airlines charges N380,000. These represent an increase of 80 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively, when compared with an average fare of N200,000 on the routes a year ago.

A Business Class ticket now goes for as high as N3m as against the N1.5m a year ago on the Lagos-London route.

On the Lagos-Atlanta and Lagos-Houston routes, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, which used to fly Economy Class passengers for between N270,000 and N330,000 some 12 months ago, now render the same service at an average fare of N600,000, depending on the time of booking. This represents an increase of about 100 per cent.

South Africa Airways and Arik Air, which used to fly the Lagos-Johannesburg routes for between N100,000 and N120,000 for the economy class, now fly the route for between N180,000 and N220,000, depending on the time of booking and the season.

The Lagos-Paris route, which used to go for N180,000 on the average, now goes for around N400,000. This represents an increase of 120 per cent.

Operators link the increment in fares to the scarcity of foreign exchange to attend to the operational needs of the carriers and the erosion in the value of the ticket sales proceeds, which are now stuck in banks due to lack of forex to repatriate the funds.

Late last year, the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had unveiled a fiscal policy, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, restricting access to foreign exchange and funds transfer out of the country.

While this has had advantages for some sectors of the economy, foreign airline operators have complained of their inability to repatriate revenue to their operational bases as a result of the new policy.

An official of one the airlines told our correspondent that the carrier had close to N90bn as accumulated earnings in banks, which it had been unable to repatriate.

He said that the airline industry relied heavily on cash to meet its commitments, adding that it was sad that the government was not seeing things this way.

With huge airline revenue in the vaults of the banks, some of the operators nursed fears of being exposed to risks should the pressure on the naira lead to the devaluation of the currency, which could erode the value of the funds by about 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

Following the difficulty in repatriating earnings from Nigeria, some of the airlines initially began restricting cheap fares on the Nigerian routes in the last quarter of last year, leading to an indirect hike in fares.

At the time, the effect was felt more on second tier routes from Lagos-London-Atlanta, Lagos-London-New York, Lagos-London-Miami, Lagos-London-São Paulo, Lagos-London-Houston; or Lagos-Frankfurt-New York, Lagos-Frankfurt-Chicago, Lagos-Frankfurt-Los Angeles, and Lagos-Frankfurt-Shanghai.

Citing Nigeria’s slowing economy amid forex scarcity, some international airlines are now contemplating reducing flights to the country or operating smaller capacity aircraft as a short-term measure.

However, following complaints by the airlines, representatives of the International Air Transport Association are said to have pleaded with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emiefele, to intervene in the matter and make dollars available to them.

But the move has yet to yield any positive results.

The foreign airlines also reportedly met with the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, and urged him to look into their case.

A spokesperson for one of the airlines noted that the difficulty in repatriating revenues was affecting aircraft leases and fuelling, stating that the earnings were partly being used for fuel and renewing aircraft leases.

While the situation persists, the effect on air travellers and other businesses that depend so much on air travel has been immense.

A manager with a transport and logistic firm, Mr. Emmanuel Iruobe , said the company had incurred more costs than were provided for in the execution of most contracts this year.

Iruobe urged the government to look into the situation with a view to resolving it in the interest of Nigerians.

On their part, stakeholders in the travel industry under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies have faulted the astronomical cost of air tickets by the airlines, especially the foreign carriers.

Describing the situation where taxes that go to the airlines are higher than base fares as unacceptable, the group has petitioned the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Aviation, to caution the foreign airlines over the alleged sharp practices.

The Publicity Secretary, NANTA, Mrs. Ngozi Ngoka, opined that the cumulative effect of taxes and surcharges by airlines also generated a final price to the passenger that could be as much as double the advertised airfare for a short-haul flight.

Another stakeholder, who is the Chief Executive Officer, Gadshire Travels, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, berated the airlines, describing the excuse of forex scarcity and multiple taxes given to increase fares as untenable.

According to him, the arbitrary increment and gap between what is charged in Nigeria and other African countries on the same routes are due to the failure of regulatory authorities to perform their duties.

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Samed Olukoya

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Business

N1.3bn Fraud Allegation: Court Orders Arrest of Dana Air MD For Not Showing Up For Arraignment

Published

9 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Ugwoke Ogbodo

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Dana Air, Mr. Hathiramani Ranesh for failing to appear in court for his arraignment in the alleged N1.3 billion fraud preferred against him by the Office of the Attorney-General of Federation (AGF).

The Federal Government had on October 10, 2024, asked the court to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of Dana Air after failing to honour invitation for his arraignment.

The AGF had filed a six-count charge against Ranesh and two others and marked Dana Group PLC and Dana Steel Ltd as the 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.

The prosecution argued that Ranesh and the two companies, along with others still at large, committed a felony between September and December 2018 at the DANA Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina.

They were accused of conspiring to remove, convert, and sell four units of industrial generators—three units Ht of 9,000 KVA and one unit of 1,000 KVA—valued at over N450 million. These assets were reportedly part of the Deed of Asset Debenture used as collateral for a bond, which remains valid.

The defendants and others at large were said to have conspired to fraudulently divert N864 million between April 7th and 8th, 2014, at House No. 116, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Isolo-Lagos.

This sum, reportedly part of the bond proceeds from Ecobank intended for revitalizing production at Dana Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina, was allegedly diverted for unauthorized purposes.

They were also accused of conspiring to transfer N60,300,000 to an Atlantic Shrimpers account (No: 0001633175) at Access Bank, fraudulently diverting funds earmarked as part of the Ecobank bond proceeds for resuming production at the Katsina factory.

The cumulative amount involved in the charge totals N1,374,300,000. Each offense is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

After Mojisola-Okeya Esho, counsel to the Federal Government, had requested for bench warrant to be issued against Ranesh, the defence lawyer, B. Ademola-Bello, disagreed with Esho, saying that they had filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter and that the prosecution had already been served.

Delivering ruling on the application, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, agreed with Esho that Ranesh’s arrest was necessary due to his failure to appear in court despite being served with the charge and several proceedings having taken place.

Justice Egwuatu held that, according to Section 184 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the court has the authority to issue an arrest warrant against any defendant who fails to attend court sessions.

Egwuatu ordered that Ranesh must appear before the court on January 13, 2025, before any objections can be raised.

Consequently, he adjourned the matter till January 13, 2025, for hearing.

Business

Persistent Service Disruptions In Banks Paralyze Activities At Ports, Many Cargoes Trapped

Published

14 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Ugwoke Ogbodo

Activities at the Apapa and Tin-Can Ports in Lagos State have been paralyzed as cargoes have remained uncleared following persistent disruption to some online services of some commercial banks in Nigeria.

It was gathered that the banks suffer network problems due to the upgrade of their electronic banking portals.

To this end, business moguls have been unable to pay the Customs duty necessary for the clearance of their cargoes at the ports.

A visit to the ports showed that many import units of containers have not been cleared because their clearance documents are still trapped in some banks due to ongoing network migration issues.

If the banking disruptions persist and cargoes continue to lie fallow at the ports, experts have said that prices of goods at Nigerian markets may soar.

Many persons who have been working at the ports have also been rendered jobless as activities at the ports remain in limbo.

Confirming the situation at the ports, the National President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Mr. Frank Ogunojemite said many jobs are stuck because agents have been battling to settle payment part of their clearance schedules.

Ogunojemite revealed that the clearance of cargoes at the ports usually goes through Form M and the Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), said agents have to go through a commercial bank to pay their Customs duty before any clearance process can be done.

He said if the banking system or network is down, it will be impossible for Customs duty to be paid and that container will remain in the port accumulating rent which comes with storage and demurrage payments.

According to him, prices of goods may soar if the situation persists as cargo owners spend more for clearance if their containers spend longer time in the ports.

Preferring solutions, he called on government to introduce ‘compensatory law’ where importers are given waivers when delays to their cargoes inside the ports is not from them.

Also, haulage operators bemoaned the effect of the various banking migrations on picking of containers inside the ports.Persistent Service Disruptions In Banks Paralyze Activities At Ports, Many Cargoes Trapped

Business

Nigerian Businesses Face Tougher Times as PMI Drops to 19 Months Low of 46.9

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Iyanuoluwa Martins

Nigerian businesses continued to face headwinds as the Purchasing Managers Index published by Stanbic IBTC shows a 19-month low.

According to the report released on Friday, business conditions took a hit and PMI dipped from 49.8 points in September to 46.9 points, the steepest decline since March 2023.

For context, a PMI reading above 50 points indicates growth in business activity. Conversely, a reading below 50 points indicates contraction, suggesting deterioration consequent to an economic downturn.

According to the report, businesses faced pressures from the local currency weakening, higher fuel prices and increasing cost of transportation.

This has also forced the hands of businesses to increase prices to sustain operations, which the report stated has led to a reduction in new orders and business activity.

Most importantly, confidence in the business sector plummeted to the worst ever since the organisation started documenting PMI in 2014.

“Overall input costs rose at one of the sharpest rates on record, with selling prices increased accordingly. This resulted in marked reductions in new orders and business activity, while business sentiment was the lowest in the survey’s history,” the report read in part.

A positive light in the report was that some companies managed to add a few new hires, extending a six-month trend of job creation. The downside to this was that the companies employed these staff on a short-term basis.

The report also stated that companies are making efforts, now more than ever, to help their staff stay afloat in the current economic situation.

“Meanwhile, efforts to help workers with rising living costs meant that staff pay was increased to the greatest extent in seven months,” the report added.

Metrics like the private sector output, volume of orders, and quantities of purchases made by customers all recorded steeper values than they did in September.

Trends showed that prices, cost of staff maintenance and input prices, on the other hand, recorded very sharp increases, with some metrics posting record hikes since March 2023.

Inflation in the general Nigerian macro environment is telling in every quarter and businesses are not exempt.

Analysts told Investors King that special interventions will help ease the pressure on companies, but warned that risky conditions attached to these measures may scare off firms from accepting them.