Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), general secretary of the Aviation Round Table Initiative (ARTI), has warned the flying public to brace themselves for an increase in airfare due to the naira’s floating, which has resulted in rising airline operational costs.
According to reports, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has floated the naira, allowing market forces to determine the naira’s exchange rate to foreign currencies.
With the rising dollar rate, the operational costs of airlines would rise, particularly when acquiring spare parts and maintaining aircraft abroad.
However, in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP, Ojikutu, who is also the chief executive officer of Centurion Aviation Security and Safety Consult, stated that in order for airlines to meet operational costs such as fuel, dollar rates, and low passenger numbers, among other factors, airfare must rise.
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He said:
“It is difficult to get stable airfare now that there are too many variables costs on imported jet-A1 and the exchange rate on dollar. Also, don’t forget that spares for the aircraft maintenance are not local but imported.
“I have repeatedly said that if airfare was $100 at a time the exchange rate was N40/$ and fuel was being refined locally we should expect it more than triple now when the dollar rate has gone more than ten times and fuel is being imported.”
He also stated that since government intervention has ceased, airlines will rely solely on fares to survive. “Airlines have benefited from irrational government intervention funds and debt concessions, but these are no longer affordable.” Furthermore, approximately 60 to 70% of travelling passengers are government and corporate officials; unfortunately, these figures cannot be guaranteed for airline flights.
Therefore, to meet the operational costs arising from fuel, dollar rate, low passengers, among others, the air fare must go up, he declared