Domestic airlines jerk up economy fares over rising operational costs

[By VICTOR NZE]

Domestic aviation operators in the country have jerked up airfares for the economy class by 100 per cent for reasons bordering on rising operational costs.

The development is mostly on the ever-busy Lagos-Abuja route which has seen an increase in fares by double the previous price for the economy class, across all airlines on domestic operations.

Findings by the Oracle Today also show that the domestic operators may have pegged the price at N50, 000 for some carriers, while for other airlines, a slight upward adjustment from the others.

The increase took effect from Friday and has seen economy tickets previously priced a little above N25, 000 hit N50, 000  N30 and above for a one-way ticket.

Operators like Dana Air, United Nigeria, Azman Air, Air Peace and Max Air have already effected the increases on their official websites for the Lagos to Abuja routes

While Ibom Air, Aero Contractors and Arik Air have raised their economy prices, Green Africa has also followed suit on its economy price but is still below the N50, 000 mark.

A source within the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella body of all private commercial airlines in the country, informed the Oracle Today, that the increase is a way of shedding operational costs, which members had tried to do earlier in the year but was disrupted by the present scarcity of fuel which has hit their operations hard.

“If you notice, since this year, we’ve been trying to drive our businesses by first slashing fare prices to increase volumes and not fly empty. That may have worked initially as it encouraged passengers to patronize the aviation sector, but this fuel scarcity has only made it worse. It has sort of thrown a spanner in our works.

“But I can assure you that this hike in temporary. The major problem is that there has been a drop in passenger volumes. If we try to operate at a profit going by the cost of aviation fuel, and others we will perpetually be at a loss, but we also know that if we raise passenger traffic we can raise revenue. Flying empty is never the way to go for any operator,” the source said.

While domestic operators dropped airfares since the beginning of the year to encourage passenger patronage, other challengers encountered in their operations have continued to hamper profit for their businesses on the home front.

It would be recalled that domestic operators, mid-week, berated members of the Nigerian senate for mulling invitation to foreign airlines to take over local commercial operations following complaints of mounting cases of flight delays and cancellations at the airports by customers.

The ongoing scarcity of the Jet A1 fuel also called aviation fuel has only compounded an already precarious environment, which means flying half full or half empty can no longer be considered.

Findings by Oracle Today hinted at airlines deliberately cancelling, delaying or in most cases merging flights, a situation which may not be unconnected with airlines avoiding flying empty or below recommended seat occupancy if any level of profit is to be met.

However, while responding to comments credited to a member of the senate committee who had suggested inviting foreign airlines to enter the domestic market to raise of professionalism in the industry, the domestic airline operators hinted at some of the major challenges facing their businesses that may have now informed the present hike in domestic air fares.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi had, during plenary, complained over how domestic airlines delay passengers for 4 to 9 hours, further proposing that since the local carriers have failed to sit up, foreign airlines would be invited to operate domestic flights.

Reacting to the senator’s remarks, domestic operators have advanced reasons for the delays and cancellations, as contained in a statement issued by the body, Thursday.

According to a statement by the group of airline operators, issues like weather, inadequate aircraft parking space, restrictions caused by sunset airports, delays due to VIP movement, frequent Bird Strikes and Foreign Object Damage (FOD) pose some of these challenges.

The statement was signed by Alhaji Yunusa S. Abdulmunaf of the AON, Barr. Allen Onyema and endorsed by Alhaji Shehu Wada – Max Air, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo – United Nigeria Airlines, Capt. Mfon Udom – Ibom Air, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu – Arik Air; Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood – Aero Contractors, Alhaji Faisal Abdulmunaf – Azman Air, Capt. Edward Boyo – Overland Airways, Mr. Afolabi Babawande – Green Africa and Mr. Sukh Mann – Dana Air.

According to the domestic operators, other challenged adduced for the flight delays and cancellations include; unavailability and ever rising cost of aviation Fuel; Unavailability of forex for spare parts and maintenance, delays from Customs in clearing of Safety critical spare parts, Poor air traffic flow, Inadequate Check-in Counters.

Airline operators also pointed to cases of inadequate screening and exit points at departure and unserviceable baggage claim machines (Carousel), inadequate and unreliable Ground Services Equipment, unruly behavior of passengers and failure to obey rules, lack of runway lights, as well as, unforeseen circumstances due to component failures and ground accidents.

“It is not in the interest of any airline, whether in Nigeria or anywhere else, to delay or cancel flights as this has severe financial and image consequences.

“While flight delays and cancellations occur all over the world, it is however instructive to note that in Nigeria, 80% of the causes of delays and cancellations are due to factors that are neither in the control of airlines nor caused by them.

“Unavailability and ever rising cost of Aviation Fuel – JetA1 today costs above N410 in Lagos, N422 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N429 in Kano per litre and has continued to rise fast and steadily. On top of the continuous rise in the fuel price, fuel supply is at best epileptic at several airports thereby causing delays.

 “Unavailability of Forex for spare parts and maintenance – Airlines carryout most of their activities in dollars which today sells for between N580 to N600 and is in short supply. Nigeria’s domestic airlines are in a ‘life and death’ struggle to secure the Forex they need to acquire their spare parts to maintain their aircraft. This is a major influence on how quickly a grounded aircraft can be fixed and restored to its flight schedule, which in turn has a huge impact on the schedule reliability of the domestic airlines.

“Delays from Customs in clearing of Safety critical spare parts – Many airlines cannot clear their aircraft spare parts for weeks or months due to Customs bottlenecks… Poor air traffic flow – Sometimes airlines have to wait on the ground in a queue for long periods before being given clearance for takeoff. This goes a long way to affect its arrival and next departure times.

“Lack of Runway Lights – Sometimes airlines are forced to taxi for long periods due to unavailability of runway lights on a particular runway. This further extends the operational time between flights,” the operators said.

The group, however, urged ‘the high profile and respected public office holders to seek for information first so that they have the insights they need to help solve the solvable problems that hinder the domestic air transport system as this is what we expect from them.’