Why Foreign Airlines Charge Nigerian Travelers Higher Fares

Chinedu Eze

Facts have emerged that Nigerian passengers pay more for the same travel destinations than their counterparts from other West African countries and the entire continent of Africa.

The differences in airfares could be as high as 50 per cent, according to THISDAY checks from the airlines.
Sources also confirmed that Nigerians pay more for imported cargo by air because oftentimes, the airline that freights the cargo to the country would fly back empty, prompting the airline to charge the Nigerian importer for the cost of aviation fuel to and from the destination.

Foreign airlines claim the high charges were as result of hostile Nigerian operational environment, where airlines are required to pay all kinds of charges, provide security for crew members and pay exorbitant rates for hotel accommodation and other services.

Although, Nigeria is an attraction to international travel because of its high passenger movement, costs of services at the airports are very exorbitant.

The situation is so bad that aviation agencies in Nigeria still pay many charges, which had long been rested in other parts of the world, where aviation authorities encourage foreign airlines to operate with very low charges as incentive.

It has been established that Ghana, for instance, charges zero taxes for cargo export and relatively minimum charges for scheduled flight operations for international destinations.

Inside sources told THISDAY that what is deplorable about the high charges in Nigeria is that it is not reflected in the upgrade of airport facilities and there are still bureaucratic bottlenecks when seeking for flight approvals and other requests from Nigeria.

“You have to bribe officials to get what you want after you have met all the given conditions, so when you come to Nigeria to secure requests, you literally have to fill your wallet. So, it is proper we take that back from the passengers,” an official of a major foreign carrier said.

In March 2012, British Airways charged $10,070 for a First Class flight ticket from Abuja to London, while the same First Class ticket from Accra to London costs $4,943.


Abuja - London Premium Economy ticket costs $3,208, while Accra - London ticket of the same category costs $2,420. The Economy ticket on the same flight costs $2,840 from Abuja but $2,156 from Accra.

Similarly, Virgin Atlantic charges Nigerians $4,173 and $2,956 for its Lagos -London Premium Economy and Economy tickets respectively; while fliers from Accra pay $1,826 and $1,563 for the same categories of tickets on Accra-London haul.

Lufthansa's rate for Abuja - Frankfurt Economy class ticket is $3,661, whereas Accra-Frankfurt on the same class of ticket is $1,330. For KLM, an economy ticket from Abuja to Amsterdam costs $4,502, while the same class of ticket from Accra to Amsterdam cost $1,181.

Also, Alitalia charges $863 for one of its Accra-Rome Economy tickets and $1,509 for the Lagos - Rome equivalent.

Despite protests from the Nigerian government to reverse the trend, the fares have remained very exorbitant and Nigerian passengers have continued to patronise the foreign airlines because of the low capacity of indigenous carriers. At the moment, only Arik Air operates international destinations.

Comparing the charges, an airline source familiar with aviation operations in Ghana said, a passenger flying out of the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, pays a total of $60 as taxes and charges (excluding fuel surcharge), whereas in Nigeria, the passenger travelling on a ticket costing $2,464 on Lagos-London-Lagos route pays $316.4.

A breakdown of this $316.4 shows that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) takes $50 as passenger service charge; NCAA takes $123.2; VAT takes $123.2, while $20 is for security tax.


With the new directive by the federal government that FAAN should contribute 25 per cent of its revenue to the nation’s Gross National Product (GDP), the agency is contemplating increasing its charges on passengers travelling to international destinations.

Culled from www.thisdaylive.com