Local airlines in Nigeria have increased their minimum rates from N50,000 to N55,000, barely three months after the initial hike.

In February, airline operators jerked up economy class tickets to N50,000, averagely a 100 per cent hike. The operators cited high the skyrocketing cost of jet AW fuel and unavailability of Forex to purchase the essential commodity from the international market.

Gina Onyeka, a travel agent confirming the development to BusinessDay newspaper said that the latest increase in fare price was becoming unaffordable.

She said the minimum airfare which was initially capped at N35,000 at the beginning of the aviation fuel crisis in February now ranges between N55,000 and N65,000.

“The aviation fuel increase is affecting ticket prices and sales. Not everyone can afford N50,000, minimum fares and increasing these fares to N55,000 and more is affecting passenger patronage,” Ms Onyeka said.

She explained that, aside Green Africa, which operates on a low-cost model with ticket prices ranging from N35,000 to N40,000, other airlines now charge N55,000 minimum per flight.

Earlier this month, airline operators threatened to shut down domestic flights after aviation fuel reached N700 per litre. It sold at about N190 per litre before the commencement of the crisis.

However, the House of Representatives last week resolved that six million litres of aviation fuel be sold at the rate of N480 per litre to airline operators for the next three months to avert further breakdown of operations in the aviation industry.

The lawmakers also tasked the nation’s oil corporation NNPC and the Central Bank to provide the needed assistance and asked airline operators to name marketers of their choice to supply them with aviation fuel over the next three months.