Ahead of Easter celebration, passengers flying through Rivers, Kano, Enugu and Ogun states appear to be the worst hit by the increasing prices of domestic air tickets, Vanguard has gathered.

This is even as air travellers flying through Abia, Kogi, Abuja and Plateau states seem to be less affected by the spike in domestic airfares.

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, in its transport fare watch for February 2024, released last weekend, stated that travellers flying through Rivers, Kano, Enugu and Ogun paid between N95,000 and N100,000 on air tickets in February, just as travellers flying through Abia, Kogi, Abuja and Plateau paid between N80,700 and N70,000 in the same period.

NBS also said the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes for a single journey in February 2024 was N88,000.00, showing a decrease of 2.20 per cent compared to the previous month (January 2024).

The report added that on a year-on-year basis, airfares rose by 18.03 per cent from N74,558.11 in February 2023, noting: “South-West recorded the highest fare of air transport in February 2024 with N90,666.67, followed by North-West with N90,500. North-Central had the least with N83,028.57.”

Commenting on the development, Aviation analyst and Consultant, Sindy Foster, said unless there was an emergency intervention, there may be no respite for air passengers. She said: “The link between costs, revenue and profitability of the airline industry from a commercial perspective needs to be fully understood by all who have an impact and a change of policy direction, systems or processes need to be put in place.”