Reduced fleet spikes domestic airfares for Christmas

Domestic air fares are set to spike this Christmas as a result of a fall in the number of operational aircrafts in Nigerian airlines’ fleet, BusinessDay findings show.
Six domestic airlines currently offer scheduled flights including Medview, Dana Air, Arik, Aero, Air Peace and Azman.
This compares to about eight airlines available to the flying public two years ago.
“Domestic airlines operating in Nigeria have reduced and this has affected the fleet size,” said Bankole Bernard, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).
“People are still travelling and people will continue to travel. Everything is subject to the purchasing power. December is always the peak period for us. This means that demand may still remain high. The issue of no seats is still arising and that alone can be misleading because in reality, capacity has reduced,” Bernard added.
Aero Contractors, which formally had 10 aircrafts on its fleet now has two, while Arik Air, which had over 28 aircraft on its fleet, currently has about ten, BusinessDay checks show.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) a few months back suspended First Nation from carrying out scheduled flight operations over insufficient fleet size.
Also with the skyrocketing cost of aviation fuel, airlines are said to be spending more money on cost of operation and may not save money to pay for high maintenance checks, like C-Checks, which could cost as much as $500,000 or more; so when their aircraft are due for check, they ground it as AOG (Aircraft on Ground).
Gbenga Olowo, President of Aviation Round Table (ART), observed recently there has been a continuous depletion of the fleet of Nigerian airlines.
Olowo recalled that in 2010, Nigerian airlines had 54 commercial operating aircraft but by 2013 the fleet had reduced to 39, noting that with declining fleet size, route expansion would be limited and robust schedule very difficult and down time for maintenance would impact negatively on schedule.
He attributed the failure of airlines to improve and add more aircraft to their fleet to the harsh operating environment, high charges paid by the airlines to aviation agencies and poor managerial skills by the airlines management.
A recent visit to the Murtala Muhammed local Airport (2) and the General Aviation Terminal by BusinessDay show that bookings from December 15th to January 5th are at 90 to 95 percent capacity.
A one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Owerri on these major airlines which previously sold for about N23, 000 is now selling for between N30,000 to N33,000 as at 30th of November for bookings between December 12th to January 12th.
This indicates a 30 to 43 percent increase.
Industry sources say air fares will still increase as the Christmas and New Year periods approach.
“Destinations such as Abuja, Owerri, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Uyo on Air Peace, Dana, Medview and Arik Air from December 18th of December to January 5th are already near full load factor. As it is now, in the next two weeks, there won’t be space on the aircraft for passengers except the airlines increase frequencies into these routes,” a travel agent told BusinessDay yesterday.
BusinessDay checks show that during yuletide, airlines increase flight frequencies by over 30 percent from what their operations were as a result of the influx of passengers.
Air Peace the largest domestic airline operates 54 flights daily with 10 aircraft, Arik has 10 aircraft and operates 45 flights daily, Medview operates five aircrafts and 25 flights daily on the domestic route, Dana has five aircraft and operates 23 flights including daily flights to Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Uyo.