Travelers Protest High Cost of Tickets to Uyo, Attribute Exorbitant Fares to Monopoly

Air travelers to Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom state have alleged that airfares are relatively high compared to other destinations with the same flight time and attributed the high cost of tickets to monopoly of the state owned carrier, Ibom Air.

Some air travellers who are indigenes of the state said it is not only that the airfares are exorbitant because no other airline is flying to that destination; you must have to stick to the schedule of Ibom Air, so there is no time flexibility.

One of those who spoke to THE PRESS said that the reason why airfares are not so high on Abuja and Lagos routes is because many airlines operate to those destinations, adding that if there were competition on the Uyo route, the fares would surely come down.

One of the indigenes who spoke to THE PRESS, Iboro Otu said that one airline operating to Uyo leaves the passenger with limited choices, adding that globally competition is good because it gives the consumer better service.

“Today, I checked the Ibom Air website and I saw all the crazy fares. We have N65, 000 for one-way flight.

Civil servants in the state earn N80, 000 a month. It means that one-way ticket is about one’s monthly salary and we are the people that travel. For me, I travel regularly. Now if you need to leave the state urgently, you bought your ticket and the airline sends you SMS and said you cannot travel today, what are you going to do? I don’t know whether it is the state that imposed that regime, but whatever it is, it is not good for the traveller, ”he said.

An official of one of the airlines that had earlier indicated interest to extent their services to Uyo, told THE PRESS that the company perceived lack of cooperation with the airport management, adding that the airline’s ground staff at the airport noticed what they referred to as quiet hostility from the airport management personnel.

“Our staff were reporting intimidation and other airlines’ staff said the same thing. You see the body language of the airport officials and you know that they do not want to have you operate from their airport.
“You can’t imagine that no other airline is going to that destination. That tells you that something is wrong. They can tell you it is because others cannot compete,” the airline official told THISDAY.

Despite the approach to the most profitable season, which is the Yuletide season, no airline has so far indicated interest to operate to Uyo.

Head of Communication of Arik Air, Adebanji Ola, told THISDAY that the airline is not currently operating to Uyo and it is not ready to go to Uyo for now.

Also spokesman of Air Peace, Stanley Olise told THISDAY that the airline has no plan to extend services to Uyo.

“For now we don’t have any plan to extend our services to Uyo. So such plan is put on hold and that is operational decision,” he said.

However, the Chief Operating Officer of Ibom Air, George Uriesi, told THE PRESS that the Uyo route is cheap, noting that cost of tickets start from N24, 000.

He also explained that there was no hostility against other airlines, disclosing that the other airlines left the route because they could not compete.

“The (Uyo) route is cheap. It starts from N24, 000 tickets. But if you buy ticket today for tomorrow, you buy one of the expensive seats remaining. That’s how it works. The other airlines ran away when they couldn’t compete in the route. Anyone can start to do Uyo at anytime, nobody has blocked anybody,” Uriesi said.

However, the former Chief Executive Officer of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi told THISDAY that monopoly in any business is not good for the consumer and the service provider.

“In a monopoly the service provider dictates to the consumer who has no other alternative. This creates complacency. Healthy competition is good for growth. Without competition the industry will not grow; there will be stunted growth. There won’t be push, innovation and creativity.

“For this to happen there may be two key factors, one, the traffic may not support two operators or more operators and two, there could be an effort by the operator to silently keep the airport to itself. It happens everywhere. We think of Dubai, Addis Ababa and even some places in the US, where an operator that has affiliation with service provider wants to corner the traffic to itself. But the International Air Transport Association (IATA) always preaches fairness. Competition promotes growth and gives customers choices,” Sanusi said.