Aircraft shortage to meet growing demand fuels fare hike, says Minister

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr.Festus Keyamo, has promised a reduction in ticket fares soon.

He emphasized that, currently there is a shortage of planes by local operators to meet the growing demand for air travel thus the hike in fares.

The financial difficulty faced by airlines has impacted them negatively as they have scaled down operations, and aircraft. At the same time, poor services have gone a notch higher with many passengers bearing the brunt of escalating ticket prices for appalling services.

Airfares are said to be on the high side. The most trafficked route on the network, Lagos-Abuja has an average fare of N120,000 per passenger for an hour flight. This translates to about $83 at the current rate per passenger.

At the tarmac or ‘graveyards’ of many airports lies the carcass of aircraft that once adorned the skies while many more are waiting to be taken there; further depleting the number.

Despite the proliferation of airlines in the country, the entire fleet of Nigerian airlines combined is 40% of Ethiopian Airlines.

We have a situation in Nigeria today where we have too many airlines which are too small, and their market is fragmented. None of the airlines has a critical mass in terms of fleet or route network to become effective and to make money.

The minister gave this assurance during his keynote address at the 28th conference of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondent in Lagos.

He acknowledged that local operators are facing numerous challenges, including a lack of access to aircraft, maintenance, and repair facilities, as well as difficulties in obtaining foreign exchange to purchase spare parts. He attributed the recent hike in airfares to these challenges.

However, the minister assured that the government is taking steps to address these issues as talks are underway with aircraft manufacturers to acquire more planes to service both domestic and international routes.

“There is a shortage of aircraft in Nigeria to service routes that I think is the major problem we are facing now. The local operators are struggling to cover their routes even locally not to talk of our international routes. Lufthansa is coming here we are not going to Frankfurt, we only managed to get the London route recently for Air Peace, and we are also pushing for them to take us to Heathrow”.

The conference with the theme, “Aviation Survivability amidst a Challenging Macro-Economic Environment,” also featured experts highlighting other challenges facing the industry, including poor infrastructure, lack of data, and inadequate manpower.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Umar Farouk emphasized that despite massive investments in airspace infrastructure, the agency is struggling to sustain its operations due to payment issues.

“If NAMA is to survive and continue to guarantee safety and efficiency in the airspace, it must breathe. It is in the light of this, and in the spirit of this conference’s theme of survivability that NAMA announces the review of its fees. Even though most costs in the economy have increased by more than 1,000%, NAMA has proposed to increase its fees by 800%”.

Chairman of the event and an aviation fuel marketer, Dr. Thomas Ogungbagbe, emphasized the need to stimulate economic growth, allocate resources efficiently, and encourage public-private partnerships to improve aviation survivability in Nigeria.

“Invite public-private partnerships to invest in and manage airport infrastructure. This can bring  in expertise, efficiency, and additional funding to improve airport operations and passenger experience”

Chairman of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondent (LAAC) Mr. Suleiman Idris, also called on the Federal Government to reconsider its decision to remit 50% of the internally generated revenue of some agencies to the government.

Wole Shadare