Airfares up by 97% in one year – NBS

Recent data by the National Bureau of Statistics have shown that between the years 2021 to 2022, the cost of air tickets rose by 97 percent.

According to NBS, the average cost of airfares in Nigeria increased from N37,022.97 in November 2021 to N73,267.57 in November 2022, showing an increase of 97 percent.

The NBS’ Transport Fare Watch report for November 2022 also showed that the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey, increased by 0.09 percent on a month-on-month basis, from N73,198.65 in October 2022 to N73,267.57 in November 2022.

According to the report, the States with the highest average prices of air tickets on a single journey are Taraba (N77,100), Delta (76,500) and Bayelsa/Oyo (N76,100).

States with the lowest average prices include Niger (N67,100), Gombe (N70,000) and Nasarawa (N70,100).

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The aviation fuel crisis which began in late February and deteriorated further through the months of March to May, has further worsened and is currently threatening the ability of airlines to continue operations with the price of JetA1 rising from N200 in December 2021 to over N400 per litre in February. Currently, the price has skyrocketed to over N800 per litre.

The price of aviation fuel has since forced airlines to increase fares.

Allen Onyema, vice president of Airline Operators of Nigeria and the chairman of Air Peace had earlier in the year warned that if nothing is done concerning the cost of aviation fuel, the fuel crisis will force airlines to suspend operations.

He explained that when airline operators decided to charge N50,000 as base fare, they looked at cost per seat and discovered that airlines will still not make profit if they charge N60,000 as base fare because multiple taxations erode the revenues of airlines.

One year ago, economic base fare for tickets were between N25,000 to N30,000 but the airline in February 2022, increased economy tickets to N50,000 and N60,000, showing a 100 percent increase.