Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace explained that foreign airlines had factored in inflation and currency depreciation when setting ticket prices for Nigerian travelers.
“They feared that by the time they repatriated their earnings, the naira might have depreciated significantly. To hedge against this, they inflated ticket prices—selling tickets for ₦7 million instead of ₦2 million or ₦3 million. Meanwhile, in Ghana, fares remained lower. This was a policy issue,” he stated.
To reverse this trend, the government is actively engaging international airlines to ensure Nigerian fares reflect the cleared backlog of trapped funds.
“President Bola Tinubu, being proactive, cleared those trapped funds first. We then called the airlines and told them, ‘You’ve been benefiting from these high fares because Nigerians kept paying. But now that the backlog is cleared, you can’t continue charging only Nigerian passengers exorbitant prices,’” Keyamo said.
He added that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is leading discussions with airlines to adjust their pricing while also addressing other cost-related issues, such as taxation.
e Federal Government, through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has highlighted ongoing efforts to reduce the high cost of air tickets for both domestic and international travel while also announcing improvements in airport safety and security.
Speaking at the Ministerial Press Briefing on Thursday in Abuja, Keyamo identified key factors driving high fares, including limited access to affordable aircraft leasing, trapped funds of foreign airlines, and high airport taxes.
He explained that Nigerian airlines face challenges in securing aircraft leases at competitive rates, often resorting to expensive leasing options or outright purchases, which in turn impacts ticket prices.
We have both domestic and international tickets. Regarding domestic fares, the challenge is our limited access to affordable aircraft leasing. Currently, we are left with costly leasing options or outright purchases, but we are working to resolve this.
With the Cape Town Convention and the upcoming Dublin Conference, we expect positive outcomes as new deals are in progress. The results will be evident soon,he stated.
He also mentioned that discussions are ongoing between the government and foreign airlines to address airfare costs.
Keyamo revealed that foreign airlines had deliberately inflated ticket prices for Nigerian travelers due to uncertainties surrounding the repatriation of their earnings.
“We engaged international airlines and asked about their pricing system. They explained that for international tickets, various fare classes exist—business class Z, grade J, and others—often with price differences of up to ₦2 million. In countries where airlines were confident they could repatriate funds immediately, they made lower fares available. However, for Nigerian passengers, only the highest fare classes were offered over the past three to four years,” he disclosed.
He explained that airlines imposed these high fares on Nigerian travelers due to concerns that currency depreciation would diminish the value of their earnings before conversion to dollars.
Keyamo explained that foreign airlines had factored in inflation and currency depreciation when setting ticket prices for Nigerian travelers.
“They feared that by the time they repatriated their earnings, the naira might have depreciated significantly. To hedge against this, they inflated ticket prices—selling tickets for ₦7 million instead of ₦2 million or ₦3 million. Meanwhile, in Ghana, fares remained lower. This was a policy issue,” he stated.
To reverse this trend, the government is actively engaging international airlines to ensure Nigerian fares reflect the cleared backlog of trapped funds.
“President Bola Tinubu, being proactive, cleared those trapped funds first. We then called the airlines and told them, ‘You’ve been benefiting from these high fares because Nigerians kept paying. But now that the backlog is cleared, you can’t continue charging only Nigerian passengers exorbitant prices, Keyamo said.
He added that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is leading discussions with airlines to adjust their pricing while also addressing other cost-related issues, such as taxation.
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