By Chinelo Obogo
Passengers are set to enjoy lower air fares as more domestic airlines received more aircraft, many of which were trapped at maintenance facilities abroad following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions.
Over the past few months, air fares to most routes in the county rose by more than 100 percent across all the domestic airlines, as passengers groaned with one way economy tickets moving from an average of N25, 000 on Lagos to Abuja to about N60, 000 and sometimes N70, 000 depending on when the ticket was purchased. Many of the airlines said the reason for the price hike was a combination of factors from low capacity as many of the domestic operators had their aircraft trapped abroad, to lack of access to forex. Others had posited that the high rate of kidnapping increased the demand for flying and had contributed to the surge in air travel.
Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, had said passengers can now heave a sigh of relief as more planes are beginning to come into the country, including brand new aircraft and those returning from maintenance. She said more planes would mean higher capacity and lower airfares , noting that besides the aircraft coming in from maintenance facilities overseas, airlines like Air Peace have made payment for over 10 brand new planes.