Keyamo: We’ll help airlines access aircraft at cheaper rates to reduce ticket prices

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says his ministry will help domestic airlines access aircraft at cheaper rates to reduce ticket prices.

Keyamo spoke on Arise News’ ‘This Morning’ programme on Sunday.

On December 1, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced it would investigate complaints of exploitative practices in the aviation sector.

According to the FCCPC, Air Peace Limited, a Nigerian airline, is being investigated over allegations of exploitative ticket pricing, including significant price increases for advance bookings on certain domestic routes.

Air Peace described the allegations of exploitative fares as both damaging and unfair.

Commenting on the development, Keyamo said the exchange rate impacts every aspect of aviation, including basic maintenance such as changing a tyre bolt, hence the high ticket prices.

“What we are therefore doing is to ensure that we expose them to the market across the world where they can assess aircraft on very good terms. This will impact on the prices of tickets and their cost of operation,” he said.

“That is what led us to address the issue of the practice direction pursuant to the Cape Town Convention, that is the core of the problem of the aviation industry that this president and the vice president graciously supported us to get to.”

On September 12, the federal government signed the Cape Town Convention (CTC) practice direction to help domestic airline operators access aircraft on dry lease.

Keyamo added that Nigeria will attend a major global aircraft meeting in January to address more aviation challenges.

“In January, all the airlines in Nigeria, all insurance companies including the National Insurance Commission and the National Assembly leadership on insurance and aviation are all going to Dublin between the 12th and the 18th,” he said.

“I’m leading the delegation, all the major aircraft financiers, and leasers are all gathered there and for the first time they have invited Nigeria.

“They invited us because efforts we have made to make them assess these markets around the world has increased our compliance score from 49 percent to 75.5 percent, for the first time in the history of Nigeria, all credit to the policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

On October 29, TheCable reported that Boeing, an aircraft manufacturer, plans to organise a forum to introduce Nigerian airline operators to foreign investors at the Airline Economics Conference, which will hold from January 12 to 15, 2025, in Dublin, Ireland.