Reduction in the number of serviceable aircraft in the fleet of indigenous carriers has triggered a huge spike in airfares charged on local routes.
The development has led to a sharp spike in domestic flight fares in the country ranging from between N92, 000 and N250,000 for a one – hour flight and also depending on the time of booking.
Nigeria’s busiest route: Lagos-Abuja parades the highest fares, with passengers rushing to booking platforms days before their intended date of travel , only to meet prohibitive offers.
Besides, the Lagos/Abuja rotation, air fares between Lagos and Asaba, Benin, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Uyo , Calabar, Yola, Maiduguri, Kano, also fall within the prohibitive bracket.
For instance, checks by The Nation at the close of business last Thursday, showed that flight booking on one of the major carriers, for intended travel on the Lagos/ Abuja route over the next four days, goes for between N123,900 and N238, 200.
The hike in airfares is the highest in the last few years , with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), pegging the average price of domestic flight tickets adding over N79,011 in a year.
In its 2023 Transport Fare Watch’ , an NBS report shows airfares increased by 21.48 percent (year-on-year ) from N65,041 in August 2022.
The NBS said the average fare paid by air passengers for a single flight ticket increased by 0.30 percent from N78,775 in July 2023, to N79,011.38 in August, 2023.
With the prevailing spike, many passengers are weighing options for their travel itinerary, including settling for only essential travels, or patronising other modes of transportation.
But, the speed that air travel offers and the prevailing challenge of insecurity in some parts of the country, experts say will continue to attract more throw put for aviation, not minding the cost.
While contending with the prohibitive fare regime, passengers , investigations reveal, are getting more worried about the hurdles they have to go through securing limited seats on the diminishing number of serviceable aircraft in the fleet of active carriers.
Experts say the escalating fares may not abate, unless airlines boost their fleet size.
But, oscillating exchange rate, increasing cost of operations, rising insurance premiums as well as limited access to capital may erect obstacles to airlines’ fleet increase ambition.
The shrinking number of active carriers, with DANA Air , NG Eagle Airlines and Rano Air and AZMAN Air not having stable flights due to on – going technical and safety audit by the NIgerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other considerations, investigations further reveal has resulted in the pulling out of service of several airplanes.
The vacuum created by the temporary absence of the some carriers, it was learnt, has created capacity issues for other operators , including: Air Peace, Aero Contractors, Ibom Air, Overland Airways , Green Africa Airways, Value Jets Airlines, Arik Air , Max Air, Rano Air and United NIgeria Airlines.
Aircraft in the fleet of existing carriers, according to regulatory data, is in the neighbourhood of about 91 airplanes.
This number includes aircraft that are either in flight, storage or undergoing major repairs at maintenance centres across the globe.
Investigations reveal that a few years ago, the entire domestic fleet hovered around 120 aircraft.
According to data from the regulatory authority: Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), between 2015 and 2023 the number of aircraft – private/ charter – in the registry of the authority rose from 175 aircraft to 358.
But, the entire 358 fleet is not serviceable. While some of the airlines/ owners are no longer in business, forcing the aircraft to go into storage, some of the equipment have been repossessed by their lessors.
These aircraft criss-cross the increasing number of airports, which have moved from 27 to over 40.
Domestic carriers, according to their umbrella body, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), have consistently called on the Federal Government to find a pathway in navigating the myriad challenges confronting the business.
Spokesman of AON, and Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, listed the challenges to include: scarcity of funds, devaluation of naira, inaccessibility to forex, expensive aviation fuel, multiple taxation, absence of maintenance facilities, otherwise known as MRO, unfriendly business environment, unpopular policies of government, among many others.
In the last few months, only few airplanes have been deployed to serve domestic route passengers as Nigerian airlines struggle with fleet reduction owing to high cost of maintenance.
Some airlines have sent their aircraft on maintenance, but they are unable to return them due to the skyrocketing maintenance costs fueled by the foreign exchange crunch.
Others have been forced to ground their aircraft by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for their inability to send them for maintenance, thus reducing airplanes available for passengers.
Investigations revealed that every year, Nigerian airlines and private aircraft owners spend at least $2 billion on the maintenance of their aircraft fleet.
A source hinted that a major carrier in 2022 alone spent over N76 billion repairing its aircraft overseas.
Speaking on the development, an industry analyst and Head, Strategy , Zenith Travels, Mr Olumide Ohunayo said reduction in the aircraft fleet of indigenous carriers is pushing many people out of the air travel pool because of high fares.
He said: “If you walk up to any counter at the domestic airport terminals and you don’t have a minimum of N200,000, you may not get a seat.
“Surprisingly, some of the airlines now tell you that they are selling premium economy to you, whereas there is nothing like premium economy. They sell you the business class and when you get onboard the aircraft, you’ll see that it is an economy class that has been sold to you.
“The withdrawal of Dana’s license and the grounding of aircraft that can’t go on maintenance due to lack of foreign exchange have led to reduction in fleet size.
“The grounding of Dana is a major problem. We need to find a way around this capacity problem and seats available. The passengers have not increased, but the supply of aircraft has dwindled. The passengers are really suffering during this period.” .
Investigations further reveal that Nigerian carriers pay higher insurance premiums due to the country’s perception as a high-risk operating environment.
While Nigerian airlines pay eight percent to 10 percent of the value to insure an aircraft , operators in Ghana, South Africa and other African countries pay between two to three percent.
Investigations reveal that airlines operating in Europe and the United States pay 0.5 percent to one percent to insure the same aircraft.
Airlines operating in Nigeria pay an average of $1 million annually to insure a B737-300 aircraft while those in Ghana or the US pay between $200,000 and $300,000 to insure the same aircraft type.
Confirming the development, Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi said indigenous carriers were navigating difficult bends in boosting their fleet due to financial constraints.
He said lack of stability in Nigeria’s financial system as it affects foreign exchange, is threatening the existence of local airlines.
He said the volatility of the economy and the blacklisting of Nigeria airlines by lessors has led to a situation where airlines are losing their aircraft to, what in aviation parlance is described as Aircraft on Ground (AOG).
AOG, refers to aircraft that are temporarily off the skies due to repairs or spare parts to be replaced in it.
Besides, he said Nigerian carriers find it difficult to acquire aircraft on dry lease basis because lessors have stopped giving aircraft to Nigerian operators in the long term.
Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Officer, Top Brass Aviation Limited, Captain Roland Iyayi lamented the lack of forex to indigenous carriers urging the government to consider an immediate remedy.
He said: “I know of a domestic carrier that has as many as 13 aircraft stuck at various maintenance facilities worldwide. The same operator, in the course of putting in bid for forex, has domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, $14 million worth of naira. A year and half on, he is yet to receive the dollars.
“They have a situation where, because of this paucity or unavailability of forex, they are stuck with having about 30 percent of their operational fleet stuck with maintenance facilities worldwide.
“That has depleted their fleet availability and schedule reliability. So, when you hear a lot of domestic airlines cancelling and delaying, it is not completely unconnected with the fact that they have not had forex available to be able to recover their aeroplanes from optimising operations.”
He opined that a state of emergency in aviation should be declared by the government.
Iyayi affirmed that if the nation keeps going at this rate, within the next three months, the domestic market’s fleet size might drop to as low as 35 to 50 per cent. Such an arrangement, he said, will translate to an increase in airfares.
