Would you like to receive notifications on latest updates of the following headlines?

Air Peace Blames Foreign Airlines  for High Airfares, Naira Falls

POSTED ON April 11, 2024 •   Business      BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara
Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema l Credit: @Ifeallenonyema l Source:X

The Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has blamed the outrageous high prices that foreign airlines are charging for international trips, on external and internal factors. 

Onyema in an interview on national television attributed the fall of the naira to these airlines. 

He claimed that they were willing to buy dollars at any rate which put a strain on the nation’s legal tender thus contributing significantly to its decline.
The Air Peace boss said the inaugural flight of the domestic airline from Lagos to London prompted its international counterparts to automatically crash their fares from N17 million to N5 million, despite the dollar rate remaining unchanged.
He said: “It was a playoff of both internal and external conspiracies. These airlines were taking into the market a lot of money, chasing the dollar every day, buying at any amount. It’s no longer CBN now. They take their money from their commercial banks, go out there in the market, buying dollars at any rate and that was putting a strain on the naira.
“Now, Air Peace did this (brought down the price) and they crashed their prices from N17 million to N5 million, the dollar did not change! They were using dollars as a reason for whatever they were doing to us.
“The dollar didn’t change overnight, yet they came down to N5 million. They’re underpricing; some are advertising $350. That’s why I’m saying, ‘Congratulations to Nigerians’ on two levels.
“One is, you don’t have to sell your house to fly to the UK anymore. Two, the dollar has come crashing.”
Onyema further urged Nigerians to imbibe and display patriotism at all times adding, “We’ve proved that if only we’re patriotic in this country, we can all do it. It’s not for the government alone to do.”
The nation’s leading airline recently positioned itself to take a larger chunk of the Nigeria/UK passenger market by undercutting foreign airlines by 66 per cent on airfares.
It pegged its economy class ticket at N1.2 million on the Lagos-London route, while findings showed that foreign airlines charge an average of N3.5 million for economy class tickets from Lagos to London.

READ ALSO
German eye Nigeria's mineral wealth as foreign direct investments surge
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

Ongoing initiatives to draw in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) seem to be bearing fruit, as certai...

READ ALSO
FG signs $174.6M agreement with UNIDO to enhance Nigeria's industry
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

The Federal Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have enter...

READ ALSO
FG signals tough stance on underdeveloped Oilfields, calls for strategic IOC investments
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 2, 2025 0

The Federal Government expressed its worries on Tuesday about the growing number of idle and underde...

READ ALSO
Fuel prices expect to fall below N750 by Year-End - NIPSS
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 2, 2025 0

The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has said that with Dangote Refinery...

READ ALSO
CBN's strategic policies lead to significant increase in Nigeria's Net FX reserves
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 2, 2025 0

Nigeria's net foreign exchange reserves (NFER) stood at $23.11 billion at the conclusion of the prev...

READ ALSO
NSIA reports ₦3.74Trn profit, celebrating 12 years of continuous profitability
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 1, 2025 0

ABUJA, Nigeria - THE Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) reported generating approximately...

READ ALSO
Insurance leaders advocate for AfCFTA adoption to drive economic progress
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara March 21, 2025 0

Stakeholders within the insurance sector have urged operators to capitalize on the African Continent...

READ ALSO
Nigeria's Debt Soars: To exceed N155 Trillion by 2025 amidst economic strain
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara March 21, 2025 0

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has indicated that many countries, p...

OUR CHANNELS:

Ogun police respond to rising attacks at Sagamu interchange
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 5, 2025 0

There are worries regarding the attacks and killings by hoodlums targeting commuters traveling to Ab...


Rwanda match takes precedence as Super Eagles eye world cup qualification
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 5, 2025 0

Super Eagles Coach, Eric Chelle, has indicated that his team will place greater emphasis on the upco...


LASU celebrates 28th convocation with Over 11,000 graduates, honors distinguished Nigerians
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

LAGOS, Nigeria - Lagos State University (LASU) announced on Thursday that it will be graduating no l...


Federal high court orders forfeiture of $20,000 from traveler for customs violation
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

LAGOS, Nigeria - A Federal High Court in Lagos has mandated the forfeiture of $20,000 seized by the...


German eye Nigeria's mineral wealth as foreign direct investments surge
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 5, 2025 0

Ongoing initiatives to draw in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) seem to be bearing fruit, as certai...


Lagos faces severe traffic chaos as Independence Bridge repairs begin after Sallah holiday
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

LAGOS, NIGERIA - Lagos residents faced a challenging situation yesterday as they returned to work fo...


FG signs $174.6M agreement with UNIDO to enhance Nigeria's industry
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

The Federal Government and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have enter...


U.S. shows highest anxiety over AI Job loss amidst technological advancements
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

Despite its advanced status, research indicates that the United States of America (USA) has the high...


Bayelsa communities threaten to halt oil production over security contract dispute
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

BAYELSA, Nigeria - Nigeria’s struggling oil output may be on the brink of another crisis as co...


NITDA Partners Afrovision technologies to bridge job gap for Nigeria’s Tech Talent
BY Abiodun Saheed Omodara April 3, 2025 0

In an effort to tackle the ongoing challenge of job placement for Nigeria’s expanding tech tal...


More Articles

Load more...

Menu