Why domestic air ticket price must go up – NAMA MD
Indications emerged weekend of an expected increase in the price of flight tickets in Nigeria domestic routes as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said it will increase the current en-route navigational charges from its present N6, 000 to N18, 000 and N54, 000 for a flight from N50, 000 to 450,000 each time the agency has cause to extend its services to airlines in any aerodrome across the country.
The measures, it affirmed, are to cover for the increased cost of energy provision such as diesel to power its equipment cover logistics while the extended service period lasts.
Managing director of NAMA, Umar Ahmed Farouk, stated this when he spoke as the keynote speaker at the 28th edition of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondent (LAAC) Annual Conference with the theme: “Aviation Survivability amidst a Challenging Macro-Economic Environment,” in Lagos.
Farouk affirmed that the aviation sector requires a very efficient pricing of products and services, adding that, “it is a critical lever for enhancing affordability, driving competition, supporting infrastructural development, promoting sustainability and improving operational efficiency.”
In his welcome address, chairman of LAAC, Mr. Suleiman Idris, said organisations prospecting in each of the aviation value chain are also not smiling, adding that the macro-economic policy cannot take them out of the woods.
“Passengers are complaining for paying over N200, 000.00 for just one leg of an hour flight on the domestic routes. The cost of aviation fuel is highly prohibitive. Procuring spares at N1500 to 1USD has put the airlines in permanent auto unnerving mode.
“The ground handlers want to regularly review of their tariffs as against the free fall of the naira. Statutory training for technical personnel in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), recommended standards and practices is now being rationalised.”
The LAAC chairman said: “As a first step towards the recovery process we all hope for, permit me to use this forum to humbly call on the federal government to kindly reconsider its recent decision that 50% of the Internally Generated Revenue of some of the agencies should be remitted to the government. This will go a long way to reduce the already unbearable burden that the industry is facing during this challenging time.
“The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency relies on statutory fees for the management of the airspace (remember that aviation takes place only in the air). These funds are generated from services we provide to the flying community, without these funds NAMA can’t discharge its responsibility of ensuring the safety of our airspace effectively. We majorly generate these funds through the airline companies.
“The largest percentage of NAMA’s revenue comes from en-route navigation charges (domestic and international flights) and terminal navigation charges (domestic and international flights).”
