BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) has appealed to the federal government to come to the aid of domestic airlines in the country, saying they are buffeted by myriads of challenges like; infrastructure inadequacies, high cost of aviation fuel, exchange rate volatilities, huge airport charges, among others.
The airline, while celebrating its third year operational anniversary with journalists at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos recently explained that airlines pay extra N500,000 airport charges per hour if operating to sunset airport which takes effect from 7.05pm.
The Chief Operating Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Osita Okonkwo, who stated this said the airline ensures there are no afternoon flights to any airports that shut down officially by 7:00pm but could extend services with additional payment by airlines, saying this is to avoid extra charges by the airport authority.
Okonkwo noted that airports charge N25,000 for every landing of aircraft saying all these monies are built into other charges which include 5 per cent ticket charge which the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) collects on behalf of aviation agencies.
He added that when these charges are computed, they increase the cost of flight ticket coupled with the exchange rate and high cost of aviation fuel, which has risen to N1,300 per liter. He also listed forex rates escalating from N300 to N1,700.
According to him, with this development, the average cost of a ticket should be between N150, 000 to N200, 000.
He highlighted the impact on procurement, particularly in acquiring critical spare parts, which necessitates significant time and expenditure.
“When we started February 2021, Jet-A1 was N300 per litre but it is now N1,300, forex was about N300 but this morning, it is about N1,700, these are ingredients for disaster, it’s just by miracle that we are still surviving. When you look at the issue of forex availability and the cost, for us to get critical spare parts, we have to spend a lot of time and money to be able to access them,” Okonkwo said.
Speaking further, Okonkwo noted that infrastructure inadequacies across various airports have posed logistical challenges.
According to him, despite some advantages at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), space constraints have led to chaotic scenes during peak hours, resulting in flight delays.
