Owing to the increase in airfares, Nigeria’s domestic airlines continued to suffer from low patronage across all routes.
The astronomical rise of airfares has driven away many customers from travelling by air while some people have limited their travels.
Before the price increase of air tickets, Nigeria Airport had witnessed increased patronage both in the domestic and international wings. Between January and December 2021, the number of air travellers rose from 10.55 million to 15.23 million.
This means air travellers across airports increased by 44.36% year-on-year at the end of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The massive patronage rallied up until the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 before it started moderating in Q2. The drop in patronage was due to the price increase of air tickets which was occasioned by the acute shortage of aviation fuel also known as JetA1. This also led to incessant flight disruption.
After the suspension of passenger flights by Dana and Aero airlines, there were expectations that few operating airlines with insufficient aircraft across the country would result in passenger overfill.
However, as a result of the increase in airfares, airlines now face low patronage across various routes. Lagos State local airport (MM2) processed a few travellers on Wednesday morning as against the usual morning surge.
A check of airfares on the websites of the operating airlines shows a cost of N70,000 to N100,000 for a one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja. While Airpeace seems to charge the highest from Lagos to Abuja, Green Africa seems to charge the lowest for the same route.
Due to low patronage, most airlines are now at the risk of operating at a loss.
Findings show that the major factor for the rise in airfare was the scarcity of aviation fuel (JetA1). JetA1 has been on a constant rise from N200 per litre in December 2021 to the current price of N800 per litre.
No doubt, the Nigeria domestic Airwing requires government intervention to avoid a total collapse of the industry.