Wole Shadare 
Nigerians planning to travel by air will pay more from next week as Air Peace said it would increase its one-way flight ticket from Lagos to Abuja to N200,000 with effect from November 1, 2024.
It means that a return ticket for the same route would cost as high as N400,000; a situation that may make air travel to be out of the reach of many Nigerians.
Many airlines are equally jostling to raise fares to cover their cost of operations which they said is very high.
The high fares before now have forced many to take the option of travelling by road despite the attendant risks.
An investigation by our correspondent shows that Air Peace increased its fares to N200,000 from November, the highest among the domestic airlines.
While Air Peace has N200,000 and above on its website for a one-way trip between Lagos and Abuja, Aero is charging N95,000 to over N120,000; Arik Air has between N110,405 to N139,292; and Ibom Air ranges between N124,000 to over N133,000.
The shortage of aircraft which has seriously reduced capacity has forced carriers to hike fares while many others are unable to secure seats on airplanes.
The busiest routes, Lagos-Abuja and Abuja-Lagos, are more impacted as many passengers find it tough to secure seats.
A passenger who gave his name simply as Olaniyi said the situation would worsen air travel for many who are not able to afford to travel by air, adding that road transportation could become an attractive option for many.
The carriers have attributed the hike to the high cost of jet fuel, multiple taxation, scarcity of foreign exchange and others that they claimed have done incalculable damage to their operations.
“Just as we all know, all these killing taxes go to the government, and businesses especially airlines have been left with no choice other than to do this, it is what it is.”
John Chukwu who told our correspondent that he has been travelling by air for years added that with the rates at which “airfares are skyrocketing by the day without any clear explanation other than economy this, economy that, I will be left with no other option than take road transport as my new meanings of movement.
