With only a week until the Eid-el-Kabir festival, tickets have skyrocketed on significant routes throughout the nation, despite airline companies attributing the increase to the rising cost of Jet A1 aviation fuel.
For travel the following week, the northern routes are most impacted, and potential travelers regret the development.
For instance, a one-way ticket on most carriers, including as Air Peace, Azman Air, and Max Air, between Lagos and Kano might cost up to N108,000.
Particularly, Air Peace now sells Lagos-Kano tickets for N105,500 instead of the N70,000 they were selling a few weeks ago.
Additionally, Air Peace’s Lagos-Ilorin route is more expensive than advertised on its website, costing up to N70,000 instead of the N50,000 base rate.
The most costly northern route at the moment is Lagos-Yola on Max Air, which costs N135,000, while a one-way travel from Lagos to Sokoto costs N128,000.
Abuja-Katsina costs N75,000 on the same Max Air, while Abuja-Kano ranges from N65,000 to N75,000. On the other side, the price from Lagos to Maiduguri can reach 100,000.
A one-way ticket for the Lagos-Kaduna Azman Air aircraft costs N99,749 in total. For the Lagos-Sokoto route, Arik Air quotes a price of N122,196, while the ticket price for the Lagos-Yola flight ranges from N101,205 to N122,196, depending on the time of purchase.
While airline companies have also defended the rise, stating that in order to exist, they must charge sustainable costs, many passengers have expressed anger over the hike in airfares.
“Did you check the cost of aviation fuel which is over N700? How do we operate? We are trying to charge sustainable fares in order to remain in business,” said Shehu Wadda, Executive Director of Max Air.
Eid-el-Kabir festival would be celebrated on Saturday, July 9, following the sighting of the crescent on Wednesday which signaled the commencement of the new Islamic month of Dhul Hijja.