By Chinelo Obogo
National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) has said that despite the funds released by the Federal Government to foreign airlines, the operators are still charging Nigerians exhorbitant air fare
Speaking during a on Thursday during a press conference, the national president of NANTA, Susan Akporiaye, said flight tickets that used to sell for N300,000 now go for N1.5m, while in some cases, the cost is as high as N3m
She said the exploitative fares are only charged to Nigerian travelers as no other African country has experienced this despite the fact that they owe foreign airlines.
The Federal Government had recently defrayed $265 million out of the $465 million owed foreign airlines and the accumulation of more debts is expected to hit $1 billion if nothing is urgently done, the association warned, saying that over three million jobs are at stake following the cut in travel by carriers and some of the airlines that have continued to threaten to leave Nigeria.
Until recently, Emirates and few other airlines threatened to pull out of the country. The carriers are apprehensive as many of the airlines are already reducing the number of their Nigerian engaged workers which they noted have a spiral effects of businesses.
The association also said that they are shutting down some of their offices because many Nigerians cannot travel due to the high fares.
Akporiaye said the airlines withdrew lower inventories across board, selling at the highest possible openings as a way to cushion their funds being trapped and that despite paying the carriers 50 percent of their funds, she chided the operators for visiting the Nigerian travelling public with most exploitative response in the name of protecting their business.
“As usual with them, their response which we could describe as ‘High Fare pandemic’, is solely targeted at Nigeria and Nigerians, and cannot be seen where in Africa even in countries where they also have their funds being trapped in Nigeria.
“Nigerians have to buy tickets to the tune of three to four million naira be charged as high as one million naira to change travel dates even on tickets before this trouble began.
“We appreciate the response to the release of some funds, urge Government as a matter of urgency to open further windows of engagement and calling for a meeting with all parties involved; to include CBN, Minister of Aviation, Minister of Finance, Foreign Airlines, NCAA, IATA”, she said.
Akporiaye disclosed that many of the carriers are yet to get 50 percent of their total funds released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that only 25 percent of the entire sum had been released to the carrier with huge backlog making it extremely impossible for them to open the lower fare inventories.
She however absolved the airlines of complicity, admitting that Nigeria violated all known Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) which allows foreign carriers to quickly repatriate their funds out of the country as quickly as possible, stressing that the country does not have the moral right to blame the carriers for some of their actions .