Domestic air fare rises 25% to N98,561 in July

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said domestic air fare rose by 25 percent year-on-year (YoY) to N98,561.74 in July 2024 from N78.775.74 in July 2023.

The bureau disclosed in its Transport fare watch report for July 2024.

NBS said: “In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey was N98,561.74 in July 2024, showing an increase of 9.65 percent compared to previous month (June 2024).

“On a YoY basis, the fare rose by 25.12 percent from N78,775.74 in July 2023.”

Recall that last month the Federal Government expressed its intention to further raise its tax charges amid complaints by the Airline Operators of Nigeria over multiple taxation.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Umar Farouk, at the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents seminar in Lagos said  that the agency would raise its en-route navigational charges from N2,000 and N6,000 to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight.

Furthermore, the airspace agency increased the extension of service hours to airlines from N50,000 to N450,000, representing an 800 per cent increase per extension to enable the agency to recover the cost of diesel and other logistics during the extension period.

Consequently, airfares might also increase by 800 per cent following these implementations.

However, the prices paid for bus, motorcycle and water way journeys declined in July 2024.

NBS said: “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop decreased to 2.18 percent from N963.58 in June 2024 to N942.61 in July 2024.

“On a YoY basis, it declined by 29.46 percent from N1,336.29 in July 2023.

“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop was N7,117.17 in July 2024, indicating an increase of 0.35 percent on a MoM basis compared to N7,092.03 in June 2024”.