—United Nigeria Airline
BY OLAPEJU OLUBI
The Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, has attributed rising airfares in Nigeria to high aviation charges, taxes, foreign exchange costs, aircraft maintenance and fuel prices.
Olawuyi called on the Federal Government to reduce aviation-related charges and taxes as part of measures to make air travel more affordable and improve connectivity across Nigeria and the West and Central African regions.
He spoke on Wednesday as a panelist at the AeroWest conference in Lagos, with the theme, “The Real Cost of Running Aviation Business: Fixing Connectivity, Affordability, FX, Fuel and Border Friction.”
According to him, domestic airlines need lower government charges because the burden ultimately reflects in the prices paid by passengers.
He said airline ticket prices were a reflection of deeper structural problems in the aviation industry, particularly the mismatch between airlines’ revenues and their operating costs.
Olawuyi explained that while airlines largely sell tickets in naira, many of their major expenses, including aircraft maintenance, pilot training and other technical services, are paid for in foreign currency.
“This mismatch is what forces airlines to absorb significant losses,” he said.
The United Nigeria Airlines executive also highlighted the high cost of financing as another major challenge confronting carriers in the country
“How many of you would take a loan of 30 per cent to invest in a business that gives you less than five per cent profit? That is a pressing issue for airlines in Africa, specifically in Nigeria, the cost of financing,” he said.
He said the high cost of training and retaining pilots was also putting pressure on airlines, noting that the shortage of qualified pilots had already contributed to some aircraft remaining grounded.
“Consider the cost of training a pilot. Pilots today are in high demand and are not cheap to come by. We have airlines in this country with grounded aircraft because there are no pilots available,” Olawuyi said.
He further identified the lack of adequate Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facilities, known as MROs, in the region as a major source of foreign exchange expenditure for Nigerian airlines.
“Consider maintenance: we have to send aircraft abroad because we do not have MROs in this region. We are also spending on simulator training for pilots, meaning we earn naira but spend USD,” he explained.
On aviation fuel, Olawuyi said the sharp increase in the cost of Jet A1 had further worsened the operating environment for airlines and placed additional pressure on passengers.
use
He said airlines moved from buying aviation fuel at about N900 per litre in December 2025 to around N3,000 per litre in 2026, describing the increase as a clear indication of the rising cost of running an airline.
According to him, airlines cannot simply cut expenditure in critical areas to reduce ticket prices because doing so could compromise safety.
“All of that must be covered. Why? Because safety must be paramount. While we are discussing connectivity as a solution to the problems we see today, it is not just the airlines alone that can solve the problem. Government needs to create an enabling environment for us,” he said.
Olawuyi warned against excessive charges on airlines, saying all stakeholders benefit when airlines remain financially healthy and continue to operate.
“We all focus on making money from airlines. As my boss says, the airline is the goose that lays the golden egg, and everybody wants a piece of it. But at the end of the day, if the goose dies, everything is lost,” he said.
He stressed that addressing the challenges facing the aviation industry required cooperation among the government, regulators, airlines, tourism operators and other stakeholders.
“There is not a single part of this puzzle that can be fixed by just one person. The government cannot fix it alone, the regulators cannot fix it alone, and the airlines themselves cannot fix it alone,” Olawuyi said.
He noted that stronger cooperation among industry players would be critical to improving air connectivity within West and Central Africa, particularly as tourism and business activities depend heavily on reliable and affordable air transport.
“In the room today, we have tourism operators. You need connectivity to travel for business. So, all we are saying is that there has to be cooperation among all these stakeholders to improve connectivity within West and Central Africa,” he said.
On the profitability of routes, Olawuyi said airlines must also make commercially sound decisions when deploying aircraft, particularly on routes with low passenger volumes.
“Every airline is set up to make money. I would not operate a route today where I cannot sustain operations,” he said.
He explained that many routes in West Africa were relatively small markets, making it difficult for airlines to operate larger aircraft profitably.
“West Africa has many thin routes. Airlines must consider different aircraft sizes and types that will help them remain profitable on every sector they fly. It becomes challenging to operate on thin markets with an aircraft like a 737 when the maximum number of passengers available on that route is only four,” Olawuyi said.
He therefore urged policymakers and industry stakeholders to focus on measures that would lower the cost of operations without undermining safety, while encouraging airlines to adopt aircraft and route strategies suited to the size of individual markets.
Olapeju is a journalist and aviation reporter.
