Christmas: Abuja airport records low traffic, Lagos airport witnesses passenger traffic increase

Many domestic airlines at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja experienced a drop in traffic of passengers and aircraft movement on the eve of Christmas.
At the airport on Monday, booking and check-in counters of all the airlines were very scanty compared to other days.
Only Air Peace, Max Air and Arik Air counters were a little busy while others like Dana, Aero, Overland, Azman were scanty.
The Station Manager of Max Air in Abuja, Mr Abdullahi Saroke, said that high traffic was recorded in the last two days, adding that eve of Christmas was not always busy especially if it falls on the beginning of the week.
Saroke said the traffic was heavy on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, adding that most airlines recorded upsurge and had full flights.
He said that many airlines were carrying half load on many routes as at Monday morning, adding that Max Air had only two full flights to Maiduguri and Yola.
According to him, Max Air has been carrying full load since Friday to all destinations but “we only had full flights to Yola and Maiduguri today but in and out of Abuja and Lagos has been half load”.
An official of Arik said that Friday, Saturday and Sunday were the peak days of the season.
He said that all Arik flights for the last three days were fully booked while its flights for Monday were not full.
The air fare has been doubled by all the domestic airlines in the last three days compared to what they were charging about few weeks ago.
A check on the price list of the various airlines revealed that they now charge between N36,000 and N70,000 on economy and N70,000 to N90,000 on business class depending on the time and destination.
Air fare charged by airlines before now ranges from N19,000 to N41,000 depending on the destination and time of booking.
Meanwhile, passengers in their hundreds were on Monday seen arriving and departing the Domestic Terminals 1 and 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, ahead of the Yuletide.
The Federal Government had declared December 25 and 26 and January 1 , 2019 as public holidays to mark the festive period.
At the airport terminals, an influx of outbound and inbound passengers was seen, heading to various destinations.
Many passengers were seen on long queues, waiting to board flights, while others waited patiently to pick up their luggage on arrival.
Several travellers were also seen struggling to get seats on the few available flights to their various destinations across the country which led to increments in air fares.
For instance, an air ticket from Lagos to Kano, which hitherto sold for between N30,500 and 32,000, rose to about N45,000 and N47,000 in some cases due to high demand.
Flights from Lagos to Abuja, which normally cost between N27,000 and N32,000, depending on the airline and the time of flight, also went for N45,000 and above.
There were no flight tickets available on the Lagos-Benin and Lagos-Port Harcourt routes as all the seats had been booked since the previous week.
It was also observed that most of the flights that had their fares increased were heading for the northern part of the country.
The Air Peace and Arik Airlines check-in counter had the longest queues of passengers at the General Aviation Terminal, while Dana Air and Max Air also had the longest queues at the MMA2.
A passenger, Miss Tosin Akilla, who was travelling to Abuja with her children, said she had purchased tickets for the flight from Lagos the previous week.
Akilla, however, said that she got to the airport a few minutes after the first boarding call, but was denied access to the plane on the excuse that she was late.
“I was surprised to get here only to learn that I was late. My flight was scheduled for 12:30p.m., and I got here at 10.30 a.m. because of traffic, but the airline’s officials did not check me in.
“They said I was very late; I had to run around to raise extra money to pay in order to be able to go with the next available flight.
“I think it is rather unfair, because I should still have been allowed to get on the plane,’’ she lamented.
Another passenger, Mr Seun Fijabi, who was heading to Enugu, also decried the way the airlines were operating.
He said, “It is funny how things operate here. This is a time to share and not to exploit your passengers.”
According to him, domestic airlines should learn to introduce low cost promotional fares to attract travellers instead of exploiting passengers as a result of the season.
He decried the dearth of government-owned airlines, saying the few ones that were privately-owned were cashing in on the development at the detriment of their customers.
Meanwhile, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it had put all the necessary measures in place to meet up with the increase of passengers’ traffic during the yuletide.
FAAN, in a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, assured all airport users that Nigerian airports under its management are fully ready to play host to all air travellers.
Yakubu advised the general public and intending travellers to make early preparations to enable them complete their travel requirements in good time.