Airlines Hike Fares Amid Rising Jet Fuel Costs
Domestic airlines in Nigeria have increased their minimum one-way base fares to approximately N200,000, citing persistent rises in aviation fuel prices and escalating operational costs.
Checks across several airline booking portals revealed that the fare adjustment affects most operators, although a few carriers had yet to revise their ticket prices at the time of this report.
United Nigeria Airlines has set its minimum fare at N200,000 regardless of destination, while Air Peace raised its one-way fares to about N211,600. Ibom Air also adjusted its base fare upward to roughly N200,300.
However, some airlines maintained comparatively lower fares on select routes. Arik Air kept fares between N113,000 and N114,000 for Abuja-Lagos flights, while Aero Contractors' fares ranged from N123,127 to N146,702. ValueJet's fares for Lagos-Abuja trips stood between N118,571 and N132,857.
The fare increase comes as aviation fuel (Jet A1) now sells for about N2,650 per litre at some airports across the country, intensifying financial pressure on airline operators. This is despite a reduction in the ex-depot price announced by Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals earlier in the week.
An airline official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to comment publicly, justified the decision, attributing it to rising operational expenses, shrinking cash flow, and mounting debts within the aviation sector. He noted that the adjustment followed extensive consultations and a careful assessment of the economic situation.
"We have adjusted our minimum fares to N200,000 per flight irrespective of the route. This decision was taken after serious consideration of many factors," the source said. He added that airlines could no longer sustain operations under current fuel costs and warned that failing to review fares could worsen the industry's crisis.
"We cannot continue to subsidise travellers with the current situation of Jet A1. Cash flow has dried up, and debts are increasing," the official stated, appealing to passengers for understanding and describing the increase as painful but necessary for the survival of domestic airlines.
Meanwhile, aviation analyst Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.) called for urgent repairs to the pipelines conveying Jet A1 to Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, to reduce logistics costs.
"Without bridging the supply with pipelines from Ejigbo to the airport, you may not get it lower than that. Give the concession out to the airlines or any other private operator who should not get more than N50 per litre for the bridging or N100 million for 2 million litres instead of the N350 per litre or N700 million for 2 million litres daily by transportation," he said.