The United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), one of the nation’s domestic airlines, has decried the rising cost of operation, saying every service provider is adding to the woes of airline operators by increasing charges.
The airline said if the operator wants to transfer the cost to passengers, a one-way ticket should cost anything less than N200,000.
This is just as aviation fuel known as Jet A1 hit N1,530 yesterday in Kano, deepening the woes of the operators. According to the Jet A1 price list for Tuesday February 20, 2024, the fuel increased to N1,480 in Lagos and N1,522 in Abuja and Port Harcourt.
Chief Operating Officer of the airline, Osita Okonkwo who spoke with newsmen yesterday as part of activities marking the three-year anniversary of the airline, said the rising cost of forex has worsened the plight of the operators.
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More so he stated that 90 per cent of the airline operation is dependent on foreign exchange.
He was flanked at the briefing by the Chief Commercial Officer, Raphael Uchegbu, General Manager, Ground Operations, Hamzat Bukar, among others.
Okonkwo also spoke on the proposal by the ground handling companies to increase their charges by 500 per cent, describing it as outrageous.
He said some of the privately managed airports like Asaba for instance have also increased their fares, making it difficult for operators to break even.
“On a 50-seater plane for instance, if you fly into Asaba by 7:05 pm, it will cost you N500,000 extra. They will tell you they close by 7 and if you are flying beyond 7: 05, you pay N500,000 per hour. if you are operating beyond 8pm, that is N1m.
“How will the operators break even when 90 per cent of our inputs is in dollars and everybody is increasing charges. Fuel today is N1,300 per litre,” he said.
While he welcomed the initiative on getting necessary compensation for passengers on flight delays and cancellation being championed by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Okonkwo urged the Minister to also intervene in getting cheap loans, cheap forex and lower leasing rate for the domestic operators.
On the $3m trapped fund at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he said about 50 per cent of the money is being honoured.
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