Airfares: Stakeholders decry opaque ticket structure, seek transparency

In early 2026, the debate surrounding domestic airfares in Nigeria intensified, with travel agencies, regulators, and lawmakers demanding clarity and transparency.

The discussion centres on whether record-high ticket prices—ranging from ₦400,000 to ₦650,000 for one-way domestic flights—are driven by legitimate operational costs or by arbitrary profiteering.

A primary point of contention is the breakdown of ticket costs. While airline operators often cite multiple taxes as the reason for high prices, industry experts have challenged this narrative.

Some airline operators claim that domestic tickets carry up to 18 different government taxes. Still, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr Yinka Folami, argued that statutory government taxes (like sales and airport taxes) remain constant throughout the year.

He noted that prices surge in December and drop in January, indicating that market forces and surcharges, not government levies, drive the hikes.

Travel agents have noted that carrier-imposed surcharges (coded as YQ or YR) now account for 60%-80% of a ticket’s total cost.

These surcharges, initially billed as emergency or fuel-related, are often opaque and less regulated than base fares.

Speaking with Aviation Metric in Lagos, he said NANTA’s position is grounded in decades of hands-on experience in ticketing and airfare construction, stressing that as the recognised downstream trade body, the association’s contributions are based on practice rather than conjecture.

Folami also clarified that the statement that sparked the current public discourse did not originate with Mr Allen Onyema, and cautioned against personalising a technical issue that requires objective examination.

Addressing the core of the debate, the NANTA President dismissed suggestions that government taxes are responsible for seasonal increases in domestic airfares.

He explained that statutory taxes remain constant throughout the year, while fares often rise sharply during peak travel periods, such as December, and then fall again in the early months of the New Year.

According to him, this pattern clearly points to market forces, demand pressures and operational considerations, not government levies, as the drivers of seasonal price hikes.

Folami also expressed concern about claims that domestic air tickets carry as many as 18 government taxes, noting that the assertion is unfamiliar to practitioners despite NANTA’s more than 50 years of continuous industry experience.

While not dismissing the claim outright, he said it warrants scrutiny and a transparent, evidence-based analysis by the relevant authorities, rather than acceptance or rejection based on speculation.

Drawing from practitioner experience, he explained that domestic ticket components typically include government sales tax, airport tax, the basic airline fare, and surcharges often listed as YQ or YR.

He noted that these surcharges often account for a disproportionate share of the ticket price, sometimes exceeding both government taxes and the airline’s base fare.

Citing an illustrative example, Folami said such pricing structures raise legitimate questions about transparency and fairness, especially given that YQ and YR charges were initially introduced as emergency-related measures.

While reaffirming NANTA’s strong support for local airlines and the need to protect domestic aviation, the President stressed that this must be balanced with responsibility to the travelling public.

He said consumer confidence can only be sustained through clarity, fairness and transparency in pricing.

The NANTA boss assured that NANTA remains ready to engage constructively with airlines, the government, and the legislature to provide practitioner-led insight, deconstruct contentious claims, and promote an aviation ecosystem that is both industry-sustainable and consumer-sensitive.

Concerned about the opacity of airlines’ fare structures, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently ordered all domestic airlines to submit and publish detailed fare breakdowns.

This move aims to eliminate the “arbitrariness” of pricing and make clear to the public precisely what they are paying for.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has launched a probe into possible price-fixing or “coordinated manipulation” by airlines, specifically targeting high-demand routes in the South-East and South-South regions.

Wole Shadare