Airlines block seats as ploy to sell tickets in dollar

Investigation carried out by BusinessDay has shown that international airlines operating into Nigeria have begun blocking of seats on their flights in a bid to create an impression they have full flights.

This new system provides opportunity for the carriers to maximise profits, thereby forcing desperate travellers to pay more for the same seats that ordinarily should cost less.

This is coming at a time the carriers, particularly European airlines that ply Lagos, Abuja from London and Amsterdam, have perfected the ploy to fleece travellers.

When asked over the matter, Sam Adurogboye, spokesman for Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the authority would investigate the allegation.

Aside that, worried by the sliding naira, foreign carriers now prefer to accept dollar to the naira for payment of tickets.

According to sources, the carriers clandestinely give discounts if customers are willing to pay in the US currency because of the fast depreciation of naira.

An official of one of the European airlines, who crave anonymity, told BusinessDay that the situation of the fall of naira would make any businessman prefer to do business in dollar, stressing that the unpredictability of the naira made it so.

However, some travel agents frowned at the development, arguing that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been magnanimous enough to peg the exchange rate for the airlines at N200 at $1, at official rate, stressing that the carriers were ripping off Nigerian travellers.

A further investigation showed that the airlines do not abide by the policy, but rather choose to sell tickets at parallel market rate.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government was worried by the use of dollar as means of payment or legal tender in the local market in Nigeria, noting the practice was seriously undermining the naira as most Nigerians were fast losing confidence in the local currency as a store of value.

The naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria, but in most parts of Nigeria, Lagos in particular, lands are sold in dollar, prices of some products are denominated in dollar, school fees are quoted in dollar, hotels charge in dollar for rooms – same is true for other services.