FG must not jettison Nigeria Air project — Akporiaye

Amidst the uncertainties over the fate of the controversial Nigeria Air project, there are still some Nigerians who want the Federal Government to revisit the project.

This group is hinging its position on what it called the astronomical high fares still being charged by the domestic airlines, which has scared many who could not afford such fares away from air transport.

According to the key players, if there is a national carrier like Nigeria Air and one or two more, there will be opportunities for travellers to enjoy cheaper fares.

Speaking to Nigerian Tribune on the development, the immediate past president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agents (NANTA), Mrs Susan Akporiaye, urged the Federal Government not to  jettison the Nigeria Air project idea after all.

Akporiaye, who based her position on the premise that competition will make the domestic airlines bring down their fares, cited the example of how the entrance of Nigeria’s Air Peace on the London route forced the foreign carriers to slash their fares.

She said, “Competition is a good thing. Air Peace brought competition and competition is good and it drives prices down and that is a normal phenomenon.”

The travel agent guru also made a case for more domestic airlines  that are fit to not only operate in Nigeria, but can be designated to foreign routes.

She said, “We want many more to come and we encourage the government, at least they have seen what competition  can do, so government should not forget the Nigeria Air project.

“Air Peace is a private carrier; its a flag carrier, we support it but it is not our national carrier, so we need a national carrier. If a national carrier comes, it doesn’t mean we will abandon Air Peace. The national carrier will be our own just as Air Peace and even for us it will not be good for us to have just one carrier in Nigeria doing London or America. We should have more than one, if not there will be no competition from our end.”

She used the opportunity to confirm how the commencement of flights into London has positively affected the business of travel agencies in Nigeria.

“The only opportunity we are getting is that is giving us more opportunity to sell and the more tickets you sell the more money you make because that is the nature of our business, there is no big money on individual per sales, we are not like a contractor that can make N10 million from a contract, so you cannot issue one ticket and make big money, it is the volume of tickets we sell that now make you appreciate the money. The more volume you sell the more money you make, that is how our business is, if your sales drop, your commission will also drop. The benefits in Air Peace entrance to us is that it allows us opportunity to sell more and make more money.”

Read Also: JUST IN: UK general election to take place 4 July — Rishi Sunak