Fare Hike Crashes Local Passenger Traffic by 40%
There has been uneasy calm amongst aviation stakeholders as the National Assembly has moved to transfer aviation from exclusive to concurrent legislative list.
The stakeholders however expressed some level of confidence that the move would actually broaden the spectrum of investment in the sector. They however expressed doubts over the capacity of state-owned airports to match sub-nationals aviation gains.
Recalled that the National Assembly had in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution listed a bill, among 67 others, to empower state governments to run airports. The move was even rejected by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who rebuked the National Assembly saying they got it wrong by attempting to move aviation from exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
Sirika said if the amendment is passed, it will break the monopoly of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), other service providers and regulators.
He said: “Aviation on concurrent list? Interesting. I can’t relate or figure out a concurrent airspace. We would be the first on planet earth, I think. Aviation is a Sovereignty matter as well as a national security concern.”
However some stakeholders who spoke on the matter disagreed with the Minister’s position on the matter. For instance, the Chief Executive Officer of Onward Travels, Mr. Chika Ikenna, said the current review didn’t alter anything, rather it introduced sanction for sharp practices in the industry.
He argued that the minister has forgotten that even before the amendment, state governments are already operating airports as well as airlines. He continued: “Akwa Ibom State has an airline and also an airport. They are even planning a maintenance facility. So, the legislative realignment is only confirming the rights of the state governments.”
He said the move will further allow more investment inflow into aviation at the state level.
Speaking further, he said moving aviation to Concurrent List will not in any way arrogate powers of sovereign State to sub-nationals.
“It does not mean that states can now be part of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) or sign bilateral agreements; which are exclusive to sovereign countries. Certainly, there will also not be two regulatory bodies but only the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). I expect the provisions to list the areas of concurrency.
“Several states and counties own and operate airports in the United States, but all of them are still subject to the regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority. That is how such operates globally,” Ikenna said.
Also speaking recently, the Secretary General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), reckoned that there is nothing wrong with shifting of aviation from the exclusive to concurrent list.
Ojikutu said following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, ICAO brought the various standards and practices that were exclusive for international operations to apply on domestic airlines’ operations.
“Secondly, before and over 20 years ago, we’ve had states and private ownership of airports. These include: Owerri that was transferred to the federal government because of the lack of experience in airport management. We have Warri and Eket (private); we have state-owned airports in Jigawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Asaba, Uyo, Umunri, and so on, before now. Others are in the pipeline, like Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, and Ebonyi.
“If there had been no conflict between these states or private airports and the federal government-owned airports, then there should be no problem. Air traffic controls at the state airports’ towers are mainly under the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and the security of the airports under the management of FAAN. These are critical services that states have no earnings, for the traffic to sustain the airport operations and its skilled manpower.
“However, there are economic implications for states that need to pay attention to critical social needs for the benefits of the majority of their citizens than the uneconomical number of air travellers available. What is the economic sense in having three or four airports in four states within less than 100 km to each other, and the total passenger traffic of less than two million? It does not make economic sense. But time will tell,” Ojikutu said.
Meanwhile, the scarce availability of Aviation fuel also known as Jet A1 is currently having a ripple effect in the aviation sector resulting to flight delays for several hours and in some cases flight cancellation.
At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, and the Local wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, the new normal now has been flight delays which recently turned chaotic as travellers are beginning to get frustrated while protesting the delay.
The local airlines had lately raised the alarm over a massive spike in the price of aviation fuel, currently selling at about N620/litre at some airports nationwide, coupled with the scarcity of the commodity. The operators said the “unbearable” spike and attendant disruption have made efficient air transport and affordable airfares unsustainable.
Recall that the carrier had in controversial circumstances earlier jacked up the base airfare by 66 per cent, scaling up the minimum ticket fare from about N30,000 to N50,000.
Some flight ticket fares monitored by Valuechain showed that some airlines are selling flight’ economy tickets for an average of N80,000 on one-way, and its two-way is offered for about N130,000. The Aviation Operators of Nigeria have recently aired their anger on the scarce availability of fuel to power the airplanes on schedule.
They had complained that even with the money to pay, they are at the mercy of the fuel marketers as none of them wants to sell on credit any more, but you have to first pay to be serviced.
A travel agent, Abdulqadir Mohammed, admitted that the impact of the disruption cuts across the board, with passenger traffic loss of 40 per cent.
“I think the government has to do something before the industry collapses. It is fast getting to the tipping point. A lot of customers are refusing to buy tickets at the high rate that airlines are offering. So, it is not in the interest of airlines to increase airfares to cover the astronomical increase in the price of fuel. In the alternative, a lot of people are taking to the road despite the risk. Only the very rich and desperate are buying the ticket, yet there is no schedule reliability,” he said.
Checks has shown that Aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, accounts for between 30 to 40 per cent of operating cost in aviation. As a deregulated arm that is exclusively controlled by suppliers, the price has consistently been fluctuating along with Naira to Dollar exchange rate.
Reports suggest that the product which cost about N450/litre last month, has skyrocketed up to N599 in the South and as much as N605/litre in some parts of the North, creating scarcity at the ramp and attendant flight delays.
Recently, Air Peace and state carrier, Ibom Air, on their Social Media handles had apologised to air travellers for its flight disruptions, blaming the development on fuel scarcity.
“We have encountered a situation today where aviation fuel is scarce and therefore unavailable at almost all our flight destinations. This has significantly impacted our flight schedule today and may do the same tomorrow.
“We sincerely apologise to all our passengers affected by the current situation. At this time, we have no indication when the issue will be resolved, however, we are working with our fellow airlines and fuel suppliers to find a solution,” the management stated.
