Rita Odafe
There is a looming increase in airfare prices in Nigeria as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) is considering raising the cost of airline service hour extensions by 800%, escalating the fee from N50,000 to N450,000 per extension service.
NAMA has also declared that the new rates for en-route and terminal navigation charges will see a significant rise to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight from the previous charges of N2,000 and N6,000.
The Managing Director of NAMA, Umar Farouk, made these revelations during an engagement with the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Abuja.
Farouk justified the increase by stating that it was essential to support the surveillance of Nigeria’s airspace and emphasized that NAMA heavily relies on fees from airlines to fulfill its airspace safety obligations.
He highlighted, “While acknowledging the challenging economic conditions of the aviation sector in Nigeria, NAMA is an integral part of this ecosystem and needs funding to sustain its operations for airspace safety and efficiency.”
Farouk further emphasized that the proposed fee adjustment, despite being an 800% increase, is necessary for NAMA’s survival and its ability to maintain safety and efficiency in the skies.
This hike in charges could result in significant spikes in both domestic and international airfares, affecting routes like Abuja to Lagos, where domestic fares currently range from N105,000 to N150,000 depending on the airline, and international flights from Abuja to London priced between N1.5 million and N1.63 million.
