Travel and tourism expert Bankole Bernard claims that since local carrier Air Peace started offering direct flights from Lagos to London, multinational airlines that had previously had exclusive rights on the route are now compelled to lower their prices.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program on Tuesday, Bernard said that foreign airlines would be forced out of the market if they refused to lower the cost of tickets on the Lagos-London route.
The cost of an international flight ticket on the Lagos-London route could reach N3.5 million, according to the former president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).
However, with Air Peace charging N1.2 million for a return economy class ticket, foreign airlines like British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Qatar Airways have been forced to lower their costs in order to remain competitive.According to him, foreign airlines using Nigeria’s four main airports are profiting handsomely and without any opposition. Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano are the four principal gateways.
“There’s no reason to come out and whine about the (forex) backlog if they’ve managed to accomplish it. Perhaps we should form an audit committee to examine how these backlogs were determined,” he stated.
Why have airfares dropped all of a sudden? What might be the cause of that? First of all, a new player has entered a crucial route (Lagos-London),” Bernard stated.
Nigerians travel to these two main locations. Dubai is ranked first, and it hasn’t been there in a while. Thus, the London route has become our only option as Nigerians. Many (of the international carriers) used to reserve their tickets for the UK route.
“The price has decreased now that Air Peace has entered that market with a direct trip that won’t require a layover in any other nation. Why? What took place? Is that surrounded by magic? We ought to be able to inquire as to what caused the price decrease.
As long as there is an alternative source of supply to the traditional ones, the prices will decrease. There will undoubtedly be pressure on all other routes due to the availability of Air Peace, a direct service. As a result, all other airlines must act immediately to change or they risk going out of business very soon.
One of Nigeria’s indigenous airlines, Air Peace, started offering direct flights to London’s Gatwick Airport on Saturday, honoring the unfair Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
On the first flight from Lagos to London, businessmen and ladies were seated next to the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anita. Many industry watchers have praised the development, saying that it will inspire other local airlines to start operating foreign flights on lucrative routes.