By Francis Ajuonuma
With air travellers bracing for the Yuletide rush, the National Assembly on Thursday mounted fresh pressure on the Federal Government to address the steep rise in airfares, calling for immediate tax waivers and a sharp reduction in aviation charges.
The House of Representatives urged the Federal Government to grant airlines tax waivers to cushion the impact of rising ticket prices. It proposed a 50 per cent cut in auxiliary charges across the aviation sector.
The lawmakers, however, rejected suggestions to subsidise tickets outright, insisting that structural cost drivers must be dismantled.
The resolution followed debate on the sudden spike in domestic fares, which many lawmakers said had placed air travel beyond the reach of most Nigerians.
In a parallel move, the Senate on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, and industry regulators to explain what senators termed an unprecedented surge in ticket prices.
Senator Buhari Abdulfatai, who moved the motion, said Nigerians had complained repeatedly in recent months about prohibitive fares, noting that a one-way Abuja–Lagos ticket now sells for between N400,000 and N600,000.
He warned that immediate action must be taken to avert travel disruptions during the festive season.
Other senators, including Adamu Aliero and Onyekachi Nwebonyi, criticised the escalation, with Nwebonyi describing the over 400 per cent rise as “unheard of and indefensible.”
At the operator level, United Nigeria Airlines Chairman, Obiorah Okonkwo, appealed to the National Assembly to intervene in what he called crippling “multiple taxation” in the sector.
Speaking at the inauguration of commercial operations at the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Airport, he said airlines were subject to as many as 18 taxes per ticket.
According to him, nearly 70 per cent of the ticket cost is absorbed by statutory charges levied by various government agencies.
He maintained that reducing these levies, many of which are legislative, would immediately lower fares and make air travel more affordable.
