The cost of domestic air travel soared to 57.81 percent year-on-year, as average fares paid by passengers jumped from N79,013.48 in September 2023 to N124,693.40 in September 2024.
According to the recent transport fare watch report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the fares on a month-on-month basis rose by 0.80 percent from N123,700.14 in August.
The NBS report showed that the South-West zone, recorded the highest fare with N126,013.30, followed by the South-East with N125,881.64 while the North-West had the least with N120,731.25.
“Airfares were highest in Abuja at N129,600.00, followed by Anambra at N129,045.53, while Zamfara had the lowest fares at N96,969.78, followed by Ekiti at N120,555.37,” the report stated.
Stakeholders told BusinessDay that in Nigeria, things have been worsened by high insurance costs and dollar shortages which have made plane acquisition and maintenance far more expensive for domestic carriers.
In the last few months, only few aircraft have had to feed several passengers on domestic routes as Nigerian airlines struggle with fleet reduction due to the high cost of maintenance causing airfares to increase.
The report also showed fares for other modes of transportation, such as city bus rides, intercity bus travel, motorcycle taxis (Okada), and waterway passenger services.
The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased to 3.45 percent from N869.35 in August 2024 to N899.31 in September 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, it declined by 32.38 percent from N1,329.94 in September 2023.
In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop was N7,175.06 in September 2024, indicating an increase of 0.22 percent on a month-on-month basis compared to N7,159.00 in August 2024.
Read also: Airport terminals scanty as airfares rise across local destinations
On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 21.26 percent from N5,917.16 in September 2023.
The average transport fare paid on Okada transportation rose from N524.22 in August to N532.00 in September 2024 showing an increase of 1.48 percent.
On a year-on-year basis, the fare decreased by 26.04 percent when compared with September 2023 at N719.26.
For water transport (waterway passenger transportation), the average fare paid in September 2024 was N1,468.23 which indicates an increase of 1.30 percent on a monthly basis.
On a year-on-year basis, it increased by 4.36 percent from N1,406.84 in September 2023.
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