Airfares fluctuate amid COVID-19 second wave
Joseph Olaoluwa
The cost of air tickets along several routes have reduced as business activities have resumed for the New Year, findings by
The PUNCH have shown.
The decrease in the price regime was reflected by several carriers on flights for one-way trips from Lagos to Abuja.
Before now, the cost of flights ranged from N60,000 to over N100,000 last year due to rising insecurity in the country and cost of flight operations.
This is amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 virus in which the National Assembly and the Ministry of Aviation were considering banning flights from the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries with high rates of COVID-19.
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Joseph Olaoluwa
A passenger with disability, Dr Chike Okogwu, has sued Dana Air for alleged unlawful infringement of his fundamental human rights on December 20, 2020.
In a letter by the passenger’s solicitor, Wahab Egbewole & Co. dated January 11th, 2021, he sought N1bn damages for alleged unprofessional conduct of the airline that allegedly worsened Okogwu’s underlying health conditions.
The letter addressed to the airline’s managing director titled ‘Discriminatory and unprofessional conduct of Dana airlines against Dr Chike Churchill Okogwu’ outlined how the passenger’s flight was rescheduled on the morning of his flight to 9:15pm.
It read in part, “We are reliably informed by our client that on December 17, 2020, he booked two business class tickets for his carer and himself for a flight from Abuja to Lagos scheduled for Sunday, December 20, 2020. However, in the morning of the scheduled flight, he received an email from Dana Air no
Chinedu Eze
Air fares have started coming down after the Yuletide celebration as passenger traffic has dropped at the airports.
THISDAY checks revealed that there has been reduction in passenger traffic on many of the routes, but the Abuja-Lagos; Lagos-Abuja and Abuja-Owerri; Owerri-Lagos routes still record high traffic, even.
However, the cost of economy class has come down to N27, 000 from the over N60, 000 sold during the Yuletide.
Spokesman of Arik Air, Adebanji Ola, told THISDAY that airfares have marginally come down, but still relatively high compared to this time the previous years. He attributed this to the weakening exchange rate against the dollars.
The latest suspension order, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2021, is contained in the 2020 finance act recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. x
A member of the bill drafting committee and West Africa Tax Lead, PwC Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele, confirmed the development via a tweet yesterday.
The FG in June 2018 issued an executive order on the suspension of VAT in air transport. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) claimed to be unaware of such a directive, hence it was never implemented.
Airline operators had complained that Nigeria is the only country that still charges VAT on air transport services. The VAT plus 36 other charges, according to the airlines, account for at least 40 per cent of total revenue and N10 billion in taxes yearly, leaving the airlines heavily indebted and in financial distress or both in most cases.