BUSINESS DAY
In the last few months, only few airplanes have been deployed to serve domestic route passengers as Nigerian airlines struggle with fleet reduction owing to high cost of maintenance.
Some airlines have sent their aircraft on maintenance, but they are unable to return them due to the skyrocketing maintenance costs fueled by the foreign exchange crunch.
Others have been forced to ground their aircraft by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for their inability to send them for maintenance, thus reducing airplanes available for passengers.
In addition to these, the grounding of Dana Air, a relatively low-cost carrier which had six aircraft in its fleet, has also impacted the fleet operating the domestic routes.
Routes previously operated by Dana Air have seen increases in ticket costs.
The Lagos -Abuja route has seen more passenger glut than others as airlines, which charged between N60,000 to N80,000 three months ago, now charge as high as N200,000 or more for a one-way economy ticket on the route. With no other choice, passengers have had to cough out the sum.
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