United Nigeria Airlines seeks lower aviation charges as ₦3,000 f

Domestic air travel in Nigeria could remain out of reach for a growing number of passengers unless the Federal Government moves to reduce aviation charges and taxes, while airlines confront a cost structure in which most major expenses are denominated in foreign currency but ticket revenues are earned in naira.

The Chief Commercial Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, made the case at the AeroWest conference in Lagos, where industry stakeholders examined the financial pressures undermining connectivity and affordability across West and Central Africa.

Speaking on the panel, “The Real Cost of Running Aviation Business: Fixing Connectivity, Affordability, FX, Fuel and Border Friction,” Olawuyi said reducing government-imposed aviation charges and taxes was one of the most immediate interventions capable of lowering the cost of air travel and improving passenger access.

He argued that the price passengers pay for tickets reflects structural weaknesses that extend well beyond the airlines themselves. While carriers collect most domestic ticket revenue in naira, critical expenditure such as aircraft maintenance, pilot training, simulator sessions and several other technical services are priced in dollars.

Olawuyi described the financing burden as particularly severe, questioning whether airlines could reasonably be expected to borrow at interest rates of around 30 per cent while operating in a business where profit margins can be below five per cent.

“Consider the cost of training a pilot. Pilots today are in high demand and are not cheap to come by. We have airlines in this country with grounded aircraft because there are no pilots available,” he said.

The shortage of local maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities adds another layer of pressure, according to the airline executive. Nigerian carriers are often required to send aircraft outside the country for major maintenance, creating additional foreign-exchange exposure at a time when access to dollars remains an important operating risk.

The same challenge applies to pilot training and simulator requirements, leaving airlines in a difficult position where their principal source of income is naira while a substantial proportion of their cost base is dollar-linked.

Fuel has emerged as another major pressure point.

Olawuyi said the cost of aviation fuel had risen from about N900 per litre in December 2025 to N3,000 in 2026, a sharp escalation that has significantly increased the cost of operating flights and ultimately places additional pressure on ticket prices.

He stressed, however, that airlines could not respond to rising costs by compromising safety, noting that technical, training and maintenance expenditure remained essential regardless of the financial pressures confronting operators.

“All of that must be covered. Why? Because safety must be paramount,” he said.

Olawuyi warned that the aviation sector should not be viewed simply as a source of revenue for various government agencies and service providers, arguing that excessive extraction from airlines could ultimately weaken the sector itself.

“We all focus on making money from airlines. As my boss says, the airline is the goose that lays the golden egg, and everybody wants a piece of it. But at the end of the day, if the goose dies, everything is lost,” he said.

He also called for a coordinated response involving government, regulators, airlines and tourism operators, saying the connectivity challenges facing West and Central Africa could not be solved by any single stakeholder.

According to him, stronger regional connectivity is important not only for airlines but also for tourism, trade and business travel, making cooperation across the aviation ecosystem essential.

“There is not a single part of this puzzle that can be fixed by just one person. The government cannot fix it alone, the regulators cannot fix it alone, and the airlines themselves cannot fix it alone,” he said.

Beyond taxes and operating costs, Olawuyi highlighted the commercial challenge of operating on thin regional routes. He said airlines must carefully match aircraft size and capacity with actual passenger demand to avoid losing money on routes that cannot support larger aircraft.

He noted that operating a Boeing 737 on a route capable of generating only about four passengers would make little commercial sense, stressing the need for airlines to deploy different aircraft types according to market size.

“Every airline is set up to make money. I would not operate a route today where I cannot sustain operations,” he said.

His comments underscore a broader dilemma confronting Nigeria’s aviation industry: airlines need lower operating costs to make fares more affordable, but sustainable connectivity also requires sufficient passenger volumes, appropriate aircraft, reliable infrastructure and an operating environment that allows carriers to remain profitable.

For Nigeria, the challenge is to strike a balance between government revenue and the survival of the airlines that provide the connectivity upon which tourism, trade and domestic commerce increasingly depend.