FRI OCT 25 2024-theGBJournal| Latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that cost of air travel in Nigeria is rising, reflecting airlines grapple with high aviation fuel costs, currency devaluation, inflation and regulatory fees.
The NBS report, released Thursday (Transport Fare Watch, September 2024) shows the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey rose to N124,693.40 in September 2024, showing an increase of 0.80% while compared to previous month (August 2024).
On a year-on -year basis, the fare rose by 57.81% from N79,013.48 in September 2023, despite significant a 10% increase in passenger traffic to 2.04 million (2023).
The rising cost of air travel has pushed passenger traffic down to 15.89 million in 2023 from 16.17 million recorded the previous year.
Stakeholders and travel industry watchers blame the rising airfares on a number of factors including the fuel costs, which in Nigeria is relatively high compared to global averages.
Since fuel is one of the largest expenses for airlines, higher fuel costs directly impact ticket prices. Additionally, fuel prices are influenced by global oil prices, and any increase in these prices affects airfares.
Besides, supply chain constraints has also impacted air travel costs as supply of flights has remained stagnant over the years with many local operators scaling down schedules.
Some stakeholders cited currency devaluation as a major issue, as many airlines buy the scarce aviation fuel, pay for maintenance and other operational expenses in foreign currency.
Nobody expects a modest price moderation in the market anytime soon.
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