Foreign Carriers Lose 45% of Nigerian Market to Economic Crunch

According to findings, there is reduction in passenger traffic as cash crunch has forced potential travelers to defer their trips due to lack of disposable income,

The economic downturn has forced foreign airlines to lose 45 per cent of their market in Nigeria especially with the increase in fares by the international carriers as strategy to combat the losses incurred revenues earned from ticket sales by foreign carriers.

The market has become very tight, forcing airlines that cannot cope to stop their operations as they continue to record lower load factor as explained by Iberia and United Airlines which have left the Nigerian air travel market.

It was also learnt that the major airlines that are still operating are finding it difficult to cope with the shrinking market and some of them are considering temporary suspension of their flights.

It was gathered that although British Airways have to seven flights from London to New York daily, its two flights from London to Lagos and Abuja daily yields more dividends for the airline than the London-New York flights.