Yuletide: Domestic flight tickets rise by 100%

Ahead of the Christmas period, domestic flight tickets have risen by over 100 per cent in the last two weeks.

Our correspondent also observed that some flight tickets have been completely sold out, especially between December 20 and 28, on routes that are not as popular as Abuja, Lagos, and Port Harcourt.

At the beginning of November, an average domestic flight ticket sold between N25, 000 and N27, 000 for economy class while business class sold between N53, 000 and N75, 000.

However, beginning from mid-November, ticket prices have shot up to N58, 000 for economy and about N85, 000 and above for business class.

The rise of an economy class ticket from N27, 000 to N58, 000 shows an increase of 114.8 per cent.

An average economy ticket for a round trip which was about N48, 000 between the end of October and beginning of November is now close to N120, 000 depending on the route.

Surprisingly, routes with the low passenger traffic such as Akure, Asaba, and Benin, among others cost even more.

At about the same period in 2018, there was a marginal increase with prices rising from N23, 000 and N42, 000 for the economy and between N53, 000 and N70, 000 for business class tickets.

There was also a surge on some southeastern routes such as Enugu and Owerri in 2018.

However, with the closure of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, passenger surge is expected to spread to nearby airports.

A travel agent who pleaded anonymity said some airlines may be forced to increase frequencies on some of the routes going by the number of passengers that would be traveling during the period.

He stated that there had been a rush for domestic tickets in the past two weeks.

The Media and Communications Manager, Dana Air, Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa, said some people had booked flights for the Christmas period as early as June in anticipation of the rush and increase in the ticket price.

“Most tickets around Christmas period are already sold out but it also depends on the day of the week. Some days are busier than others. For us, going by what is already happening, we may have to provide more flights,” he said.