Nigerians may struggle to travel for Christmas as airfares may hit N200,000

Nigerians may resort to road travel during Christmas as airlines have increased the cost of airfares across all routes.

The development threatens to expose them to kidnapping and other forms of insecurity on the roads as the Christmas holiday draws near.

Agents speculate high cost of tickets for December

There are predictions by travel agents that some airlines may begin selling air tickets for N200,000 during the Christmas period as most airlines record a full load factor.

Foreign exchange has driven up the cost of maintenance and spare parts for most airlines forced to ground their fleet.

Airlines are increasing their airfare daily with fewer aircraft in the air as more tickets get sold out.

A BusinessDay report said the development is affecting the availability of tickets for the Christmas and New Year period.

Cost per route in December

Air Peace and United Nigeria report that their tickets for some Christmas holiday periods are sold out as of Thursday, November 16, 2022, which shows a passenger glut.

Per the BusinessDay report, Lagos to Enugu and Owerri tickets on Green Africa are sold for N117,000 and N130,000 from December 24 to 31, 2022.

Lagos to Owerri on Airpeace for December 18 to 23 and December 25 to 27 are sold out.

Tickets from Lagos to Owerri on Air Peace go for n150,000 on December 28 and may be hiked in a few days.

On United Nigeria Airlines on December 5,12,17, and 19 to 30 are all sold out.

Energy crisis hurts aviation industry

Nigerian airlines have struggled with operating costs, forcing them to hike ticket costs.

The energy crisis in the aviation industry started in late February 2022 and worsened from March to May.

The crisis has further exacerbated and is a threat to the continued operations of airlines, with the price of JetA1 rising from N200 in 2021 to N400 per litre in February this year. It is currently sold for N800 or more per litre.