Domestic Airlines Revert to Lower Fares

 

Some of the airline officials told reporters that the fares went up between Sept. 21 and Sept. 24 because of an increase in air travellers.

The increase was also caused by the disruption of Arik Air operations by aviation sector unions that claimed the airline was owing huge sums to their employers.

The situation was then compounded by the River Niger overflowing of its banks and bursting onto the Lokoja-Abuja highway, forcing the FRSC to close the main artery to protect the lives of motorists and passengers.

Some passengers said that the large crowd of passengers at the airport was due to the flooding in Lokoja which prevented people from travelling by road.

 IRS station Manager, Mr Muyiwa Adesanya, also told newsmen that the reason the airlines charged higher last week was due to the peak period, adding that the price had been reverted since Monday.

 ``A lot happened last week that jacked up air fares a little but now we are carrying passengers at the normal and reasonable rate.

 ``It is normal to experience price increase during peak periods.

 ``In our own case, for now, we have no intention of increasing our air fares.

 ``The decision to review air fare is that of the management and the regulatory bodies like the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority,’’ Adesanya said.

 A member of staff of Aero Airline, who pleaded anonymity, told reporters that since the airline business was competitive, ``we reduced our price today in order to woo more customers.’’

Reports say that Aero economy class ticket that was sold for N38,000 on Friday has gone down to N32,000, while business class seat which went up to N48,000 is now N45,000.

Arik Air passengers on a one-way trip on economy class paid N34,600 and N43,000 for the business class respectively on Monday now pay N31,000 and N40,691.

Overland currently sells its one-way ticket between N25,000 and N28,000 as against N30,000 on Monday.

Mr Sam Adurogboye, the spokesman of NCAA, told NAN that nobody had reported or complained to the agency about the higher rates.