Senate summons Keyamo, airline operators over soaring domestic airfares

The senate has summoned Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation, and key industry stakeholders for an urgent meeting over the sharp rise in domestic airfares.

The resolution followed a motion raised by Abdulfatai Buhari, senator representing Oyo north, who warned that the escalating prices threaten national mobility and could disrupt travel ahead of the festive season.

“In the last three months, Nigerians have been complaining about the outrageous air fares being charged by the airlines,” Buhari said during plenary on Tuesday.

“Based on their complaints, we had an informal interaction with the airline owners operators demanding explanations.

“But nothing came out of the interaction because it was an informal one. So there is a need for the senate to intervene by inviting all the stakeholders in the aviation sector with a view to addressing the problem.”

He said one-way airfares on some domestic routes, particularly in the south-south and south-east corridors, have increased by about 150 percent, surpassing N300,000.

The lawmaker said before the festive period, domestic air tickets were around N120,000.

Buhari said a one-way ticket from Abuja to Lagos now ranges between N400,000 and N650,000.

“We need to invite stakeholders of our airline agencies to interact and interrogate these issues. Immediate steps must be taken before the festive period,” he said.

Adamu Aliero, senator representing Kebbi central, described the fare hike as unacceptable.

Aliero said it is expected that airlines would effect a marginal increase in fares during festive seasons, but decried what he described as the current prohibitive charges by the airlines.

Onyekachi Nwebonyi, senator representing Ebonyi north, also condemned the “400 percent increase” and criticised delays in establishing a national carrier.

“Just this morning, I asked my personal assistant to book a flight for me, from Abuja to Enugu for 13th December. But he told me that Air Peace demanded for N500, 000 while Ibom Air charged N450,000 for the same flight,” he said.

“When are we going to have Air Nigeria, because we all know about Ghana Air and other airlines owned by other African countries, which are still being managed effectively.

“We must save Nigerians from this extortion by local airlines.”

Orji Kalu, senator representing Abia north, attributed the fare increase to rising operational costs and expensive spare parts.

Also speaking, Solomon Adeola, senator representing Ogun west, questioned the rationale behind the recent increase in airfares, saying he was aware of concessions granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to airline operators in foreign exchange (FX) transactions.

He dismissed claims that the high cost of spare parts was responsible for the fare hikes.

Adeola supported the motion calling for an investigation and the summons of airline operators and other stakeholders for questioning.

‘NIGERIA AIR WOULD HAVE FORCED PRIVATE OPERATORS TO LOWER FARES’

Before ruling on the motion to invite aviation stakeholders, Godswill Akpabio, senate president, aligned with lawmakers on the need to call airline operators to order.

Akpabio said Nigerian air travellers were being exploited by airline operators.

“I agree that Nigeria Air would have been sympathetic to Nigerian air travelers with lower fares. This would have forced the private operators to lower their prices,” he said.

“Minimum wage is 70,000 naira. A civil servant would need to save six months’ salary to afford a one-way ticket. This is glaring exploitation.”

The senate president added that no corresponding increase in airport levies or charges justified a 200 to 300 percent spike in airfares.

Following the debate, the senate directed Keyamo, airline operators, regulators, and other stakeholders to appear before the relevant committees this week to explain the fare hikes and propose measures to stabilise prices.