Following the public outcry over the rising domestic airfares within Nigeria, the Senate has summoned the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN and other key stakeholders in the sector for an urgent interface with a view to cushioning the effects on air travellers.
Specifically, the upper legislative chamber decried the situation and we asked Keyamo, airline operators, regulators and other industry stakeholders to appear before it’s Committee on Aviation this week to clarify the reasons behind the soaring fares and to chart an immediate path toward stabilizing the them before the yuletide travel rush.
The resolution of the Senate
followed a motion raised under a matter of urgent of urgent national importance by Senator AbdulFatai Buhari (APC Oyo North) during plenary on Tuesday, during which he warned that the sudden hike in airfares pose a serious threat to mobility and could trigger nationwide travel disruption in the coming days.
Buhari, while presenting the motion informed that a one-way ticket from Abuja to Lagos now costs between N400,000 and N600,000, an amount many citizens can no longer afford.
He noted that the development has caused a lot of inconvenience for Nigerians, who travels by air, saying that they are being forced to abandon roads and railways transportation because of heightened insecurity in the country.
“We need to invite stakeholders of our airline agencies to interact and interrogate the issues. Immediate steps must be taken before the festive period,” the lawmaker said.
Contributing to the motion, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC Ogun West), said that airline operators have already been granted several concessions, particularly regarding the cost of spare parts and must therefore be held accountable for the price hikes.
In his own, Senator Adamu Aliero (APC Kebbi Central), said invitation of the minister and other stakeholders became necessary due to the sudden hike in the air fares so that a way out could be sought.
Also, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (APC Ebonyi North) described the 400 percent increment as unacceptable, asking the Aviation Minister to rise to the occasion even as he called for the establishment of a national carrier.
However, Senator Orji Kalu (APC Abia North), to justify the air fares increases by pointing to rising operational costs and the soaring price of spare parts, an explanation that was met with rousing disapproval from several lawmakers.