Exorbitant airfares are not responsible for the decreased air travel across Nigeria currently being experienced, airline operators said in Lagos on Saturday.

Those who spoke with reporters said the fall in air travel was attributable to the normal low season in the industry and not the cost of the fare.

Fares confirmed online on Saturday showed that a Lagos to Abuja flight on Arik Air costs N132,976, N150,000 on Ibom Air, while United Nigeria Airlines charges N142,500.

Aero Contractors’ fare on Saturday for a flight from Lagos to Abuja was N196,548; Air Peace charged N143,000; Max Airline charged N78,000; and Dana Airlines charged N99,000.

At peak season in December, the same Lagos to Abuja flight costs between N230,000 and N300,000.

Achilleus Uchegbu, the spokesperson for United Nigeria Airlines, told journalists that, in most cases, the ticket cost did not affect a passenger’s choice to travel.

“One cannot talk about low capacity when people are travelling; one cannot force people to travel. People travel when they want to travel.

“Based on that, one cannot say that the turnout of passengers is low; there is no study to back that up. Even when fares were very high during the Christmas season, people still travelled,’’ he said.

He noted that fluctuating airfares were blamed on unstable foreign exchange rates.

In his reaction, Adebanji Ola, the spokesperson for Arik Air, said the low season in the industry was not strange as it happened annually.

“There is nothing happening that is new; it is just that this is the low season for the industry. We can begin to assess passenger turnout around April or May,’’ he said.

Ajoke Yinka-Olawuyi, a senior official of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Ltd., operator of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, Ikeja, noted that the airport was not empty and terminal operations were going smoothly.

She said that with the Christian Lenten season and the Islamic Ramadan fast going on simultaneously, air travel would be reduced.

An Abuja-bound air traveller, Doma Doma, said he would not blame the airlines, as they were bound to review their rates as the exchange rate fluctuated. 

(NAN)