Concerns as Emirates opens ticket booking in dollars

Stakeholders in the travel industry have raised concerns over Emirates decision to open ticket booking on Nigerian routes in dollars, ahead of its resumption of flights in October 1.

BusinessDay’s checks on Tuesday showed that all fare inventories on the Emirates website are priced in dollars and prices are competitive with other airlines.

“The news that Emirates has opened bookings is supposed to be good news but it is not because it’s in dollars. This means that people have to buy dollars in black market to be able to pay for Emirates tickets, thereby putting more pressure on the dollars which will result to scarcity and fare increase,” Susan Akporaiye, managing director and CEO, Topaz Travels and Tours and the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) told BusinessDay.

Emirates had earlier announced that it will resume services to Nigeria from 1 October 2024, operating a daily service between Lagos and Dubai, and offering customers more choice and connectivity from Nigeria’s largest city to, and through, Dubai.

The service will be operated using a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 will depart Dubai at 0945hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1520hrs; the return flight EK784 will leave Lagos at 1730hrs and arrives in Dubai at 0510hrs the next day.

Olumide Ohunayo, industry analyst and Director, Research, Zenith Travels told BusinessDay said there is a possibility that Emirates It opened the system and may need some time to configure it into naira or they may have introduced dollars and offered cheapest fares.

“Checking the Australian route from here, I found out that Emirates has the cheapest fares. If it is in dollars and I have to use naira to buy dollars and it is cheaper for me in naira, I’ll still go and pick the one that is dollars. It is a bit tricky. It may be a marketing gimmick. I would rather wait for October 1 when they say they are going to commence and see what happens.

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“They can’t afford to go against the travel agents. This is an airline that even without the Nigerian route, they are profitable. They may be the first airline that says they will go against the norm and bypass travel agents which I hope they won’t. They have been able to prove to everyone in the industry that they are a strong force without the Nigerian market,” Ohunayo said.

Ohunayo hinted that if Emirates could make a lot of profit when it suspended flights into Nigeria, then they should have a strategy to succeed in the Nigerian market.

He recalled that one of the reasons Emirates pulled out of the Nigerian market was because of the trapped funds and its fuel suppliers insisting that they pay in dollars, while other airlines were paying naira to their suppliers.

“These are some of the things they should renegotiate before returning. How can we even ask them to charge in naira if suppliers are charging for the services it provides in dollars? If you ask them to charge in naira, then it should apply to government agencies. When you are coming to equity, come with clean hands.”

BusinessDay’s findings show that a return economy class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow on KLM cost N2.3million, Air France – N2.2 million, Ethiopian Airlines – N2.7 million, Egypt Air – N2.7milion and Virgin Atlantic – N3.2 million.

A return Business class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow on Royal Air Maroc cost N5.7million, Air Peace – N6.5 million, Turkish Airlines – N6.9 million, Egypt Air N7.1 million, Qatar Airways N7.4 million.

A return economy class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow on Emirates cost $1,130 which amounts to N1.83 million and $4,290 which amounts to a little above N6.9 million.

An economy class return ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Emirates cost $987. With the travel exchange rate of N1,620 to a dollar, this will cost N1.59m. A Business class return ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Emirates cost $4,418 which will amount to N7.1m.

A return economy class ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Turkish Airlines cost N1.63 million, Kenya Airways N1.17 million, Egypt Air 1.3 million, Qatar Airways N1.3m, Ethiopian Airlines N1.5m, Emirates N1.7m

A return Business class ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Egypt Air cost N4.1million, Kenya Airways – N4.8million, Qatar Airways – N4.97 million, Turkish Airlines N4.98 million, Ethiopian Airlines N5 million, Emirates N8 million.

Yinka Folami, the current NANTA president, said despite opening the ticket booking, the visa policy is still very exclusive.

“The restrictions are still high. I expect that an airline like Emirates having left the market for about two years will come in with an entry strategy. As a Nigerian, I’m worried that Emirates is charging in dollars.

“Our legal tender is still the naira and my personal experience is that if we keep denominating dollars in Nigeria, it will keep putting pressure on the naira. That’s the way I see it,” Folami said.

According to him, he would rather a situation where the legal tender of the country is respected, adding that beyond the cost of ticket, Nigeria is a sovereign to respect.