Air travellers in the country paid higher for tickets across the domestic routes as the average ticket prices surged by 34.06% over the past year, according to the just published report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Bureau, in its ‘Transport Fare Watch (May 2023)’ posted on its website on Monday, July 3, disclosed that airfare rose from N55,906.86 in May 2022 to N74,948.78 in May 2023.
The statistics agency reported that the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes and single journeys increased by 0.002% on a month-on-month basis from N74,947.30 in April 2023 to N74,948.78 in May 2023.
The report reflected that on a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 34.06% from N55,906.86 in May 2022. The average fare paid on Okada transportation in May 2023 was N464.55, a 0.49% increase from the rate recorded in April 2023 (N462.29).
The Bureau also reported that commuter bus fares also experienced an 11.66% increase year-on-year from N581.79 in May 2022.
It clarified: “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 0.23% in May 2023 when N649.59 was recorded relative to N648.12 in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, the average fare paid rose by 11.66% from N581.79 in May 2022.
“In another category, the average fare paid by commuters for bus journey intercity per drop in May 2023 was N4,002.16, indicating an increase of 0.19% on a month-on-month basis compared to the N3,994.51 recorded in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 9.09% from N3,668.64 in May 2022“, he statistics agency added.
This is even as it reported that in May this year, okada fares rose by 11.30% when compared with the value in May 2022 which was N417.39 while the average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in May 2023 stood at N1,045.15, representing an increase of 1.39% from N1,030.83 in April 2023 and an increase of 10.99% from N941.63 in May 2022.
Analysts have projected that with the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy regime by the new administration effective from June this year, commercial vehicle, okada and waterway passengers would pay higher fares, reflecting the market-determined fuel prices which have surged by an average of about 220% nationwide.
They also projected that with the monetary policy on the unification of the Naira FX rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) air fares across domestic and international routes would significantly rise for air travellers in the months ahead.
Already, in some international routes economy ticket prices of some airlines have jumped from N400,000 to about N1.2 million, while business class tickets now range from N4 million to N6 million, depending on the airline and booking time.
