Stakeholders in the aviation industry have warned airline operators against the speculated 100 per cent increase in air fare, following the increase in aviation fuel price from N240 to N260 per litre.
The President, Aviation Roundtable, Captain Dele Ore, told The Point that such a development would not address the sector’s woes, because of the crisis bedeviling it. He said, “If the domestic airlines increase price to some point where the consumers can no longer afford it, they will boycott, and in the long run, the airlines will die.
It is an unfortunate situation, because of how bad the state of the sector had become over the years, while nothing had been done to save the situation of things, which is very dangerous.
“Soon the aeroplanes will start falling off the sky one after the other, because the airlines cannot maintain their aircraft, not to talk of pay salaries to their staff, or pay for insurance, due to lack of funds. They cannot increase the fares to a point that can save them, because before they reach that point, the passengers would have boycotted them, if they can’t afford it.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Belujane Konzult, Engr. Chris Aligbe, explained that the airlines had been under severe difficulties, arising from many factors, and the only way they could survive was to pass on the hike in their operational charges to the passengers, but added that this should be done in a more strategic and rationalised way.
Aligbe said, “The airlines should wake up and face what the problems would be if they lose customers, while increasing the prices of fare; they should know how to moderate the prices.
“There will be a decline in customers’ patronage, if they embark on such move, and they should be ready to face the consequences.”
He advised operators to increase fares fairly and “introduce all forms of promos, giving reduced tickets at certain points.”
