The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barr. Festus Keyamo, has said that the Federal Government cannot fix or control airfares in the nation’s deregulated aviation market driven by market forces.
The minister, who made this remark while speaking to Arise News on the recent surge in domestic flight fares stressed that the industry had been fully deregulated for several decades, giving private airlines the power to set their own prices without government’s intervention.
He clarified: The industry has long been deregulated. The moment the federal government under Babangida said private airlines could come in and fly, they deregulated in terms of pricing and all, just like a free market.
“And so government has absolutely no powers to fix prices for private enterprise, including the aviation industry”, Keyamo added.
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Commenting on the sector’s air fares during the programme, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Nwuba, explained that the recent surge in domestic ticket prices had been a recurring seasonal pattern.
He recalled that air fares usually surge during the Yuletide season because many travellers book late, describing the trend as a normal economic response with airlines adjusting prices to balance demand and compensate for low fares during off-peak periods.
He explained: “It’s not new. Every year, it’s the same. Prices go up at Christmas time. The forces of economics are at play. It is a demand-driven price increase, and it is compensation for low fares during the low season.”
According to him, airline tickets are sold in a “bucket” system, where early buyers benefit from lower fares while prices normally increase as flights fill up while many passengers waited until December instead of booking earlier when fares were cheaper.
The industry expert attributed the surge in airfares primarily to demand, reflecting normal aviation economics rather than deliberate exploitation of air passengers by airlines.
