Some Nigerian travellers, weekend, raised alarm that British Airways
was just charging arbitrary fares to all its destinations from the
country, despite government’s insistence that prices must come down.
Although British Airways is still negotiating with government on the
matter, Nigerians are saying they could not wait till end of the year
for the airline to adjust its fares, specially considering the fact that
it had charged high fares for a long time.
The British negotiating team had last week pleaded till end of year
to enable it carry out a comprehensive study of the fare regime in other
West Africa countries on behalf of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic
Airways, with a view to resolving the current impasse.
A regular traveller on the Lagos-London route, Mustapha Kolo, told
Vanguard that government should hasten whatever negotiation it was
having with the British authorities on the matter.
He said: “How can a traveller in Nigeria pay as much as N1.365
million for a First Class ticket when his counterpart in Accra, Ghana,
is paying far less for even longer journey.”
Some travellers also wondered why British Airways would charge
Nigerians N649,480 for a Business Class ticket to fly from Lagos to
London for 5hrs 55mins, when his counterpart in London would fly same
class 7hrs 30mins from London to Boston, USA, for N381,778.
For a Nigerian travelling on the Lagos-London route, BA charges
N1.365 million for a First Class for a journey not more than 5001km,
while his counterpart in Accra pays N773,798 for 5096.79km.
But the Aviation Ministry appealed to Nigerians to exercise restraint
and be patient till end of year which the British negotiating team
requested to reverse the present situation, assuring that government
would ensure Nigerians were no longer shortchanged on expiration of the
deadline given the British team.
Source
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