Nigerian airlines can’t stop pushing up prices

Two major domestic airlines in Nigeria have increased the price of local flights from a baseline of 50,000 naira ($120) for economy seats to as much as N58,000 ($139) this week, signaling the industry’s effort to manage an aviation fuel scarcity spanning months.

The airlines threatened to suspend operations last week Monday (May 9) citing increasing cost of operations, but appeared to reach a temporary agreement with sellers of the fuel to buy at a fixed rate, with the intervention of federal lawmakers. For a few days after, N50,000 remained the base fare for prices.

But that has started changing this week with more than 10% increases in some cases, checks for the popular Lagos to Abuja route showed. Among the airlines to raise prices are Air Peace, and Ibom Air, the market leaders.

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