AIR travelers have begun groaning bitterly under the prohibitive fares airline operators have rolled out for flights within Nigeria as a one-hour flight now costs over a hundred thousand (N100, 000) naira.
When The PUNCH visited the domestic wings of the Lagos airport on Tuesday, many of the travelers lamented the sharp increase in airfares.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that economy class domestic tickets from Lagos to Abuja via Arik Air, United Nigeria and Air Peace as of the time of filing this report cost over N150,000, other airlines have since followed suit.
An angry traveler who gave his name only as Ubong and claimed to have been a frequent traveler said, “This is not the time to ask for my name, the federal government and all those concerned should do the needful, why does the average Nigerian have to suffer. I mean, we are a fuel producing nation, why are we suffering?
“Everybody is just doing as they like, how can you say Lagos to Abuja is N154,000, am I plucking money from the tree? The roads are not safe, so travel by road and get kidnapped. Those that were kidnapped on the train how many months ago are still in captivity. Which account will I write this expense?”
Another traveler who said she had to make the trip as she was going on business said, “The Nigerian travelling populace is made up of mostly business people, should we now spend all our earnings on air transport? I can’t even begin to explain how this makes me feel,” Miss Nike concluded.
“I also support a national airline for both patriotic and economic reasons.
“We have enough trained citizens, including pilots and engineers. But Nigerians need to know how we lost the one we had,” Buhari was quoted to have said.
The President restated his administration’s determination to speed up the improvement of aviation infrastructure in the country to aid economic development.
He declared his commitment to working with regulatory agencies in the aviation sector to make air travel safe throughout the country.
The President, who received three awards recently won by Nigeria from ICAO, expressed delight with the high ranking accorded Nigeria in safety and security at the airports, following measures put in place to address gaps in airport security.
The Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who led the ICAO delegation, informed Buhari that Nigeria is hosting the meeting of International World Aviation Forum in Abuja starting on Tuesday, the first time such conference will hold anywhere outside Montreal, Canada.
He said over 40 aviation ministers and representatives from 70 countries, the World Bank, African Development Bank, manufacturers of aircraft and aviation equipment will attend this year’s conference focusing on “Financing Development of Aviation Infrastructure.”