The Federal Government has justified the over 100 per cent hike in domestic airfares, saying the development was one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Musa Nuhu, spoke during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Thursday.
“As regards ticket prices, yes ticket prices have gone up astronomically over the last week or so.
“That is one of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aviation, tourism and travel industry is one of the most devastated industries.
“Because we had a shutdown for several months, the airlines were not making money and there are fixed cost that they have to deal with.
“They have to maintain the aircraft and unfortunately most of these aircraft are maintained outside the country,” Nuhu said.
He explained that because of the lockdown, airlines could not find slots to take their aircraft out, adding that the dollar rate had gone up and operators needed to raise enough money.
Nuhu also said the 300 sacked staff employees of Arik Air have not been retrenched.
According to him, NCAA intervened in the matter.
“Yes there was an issue but the staff were never sacked. There was a threat by one of the airlines and some disengagement disagreements, but the NCAA intervened.
“We spoke with both the management and labour unions and they have agreed to go back to the discussion table.
“The last report I received, they have made significant progress in closing that gaps. We hope they conclude and nobody is sacked,” he said.
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