Airfares to normalize mid-January …Dana Air

The increase in airfare by domestic airlines in the country may normalize by mid-January when holidaymakers would have returned.

The Accountable Manager of Dana Air, Mr. Obi Mbanuzuo, in an interview with Daily Times said the increase in airfare was due to the scarcity of aviation fuel in the country.

According to him, the situation will be brought under control in the next few weeks as soon as the traffic reduces, adding that the price of fuel remained the determining factor of airfares.

Mbanuzuo said aviation fuel accounts for 30 to 40 percent of running an airline operation and expressed the hope that the situation was not as bad as it used to be a few weeks ago.

He explained that a litre of aviation fuel in the market was purchased between N230 and N260 depending on locations, as against N150.

Mbanuzuo said only local refining of aviation fuel will drastically bring down the price of the product as marketers sourced dollars for the importation of the product.

“We appeal to the government to allow the product to be refined here. It will bring down the price and allow more people to fly. There are just 10 million people flying annually in a country of about 180 million. We are looking at 50 to 60 million people to fly.”