High costs may force airlines to merge flights

Local airlines are already looking into signing interlining agreements with one another as hard time and competition are hitting the sector heavily.

The Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammed Tukur, in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, on Monday, said that three airlines, which were not receiving good patronage, were considering the option in order to mitigate the skyrocketing cost of operations.

Interlining is a voluntary commercial agreement between individual airlines to handle passengers travelling on itineraries that require multiple airlines.

This means that when a ticket is issued for an interline itinerary, one of the carriers marketing flights in that itinerary will be selected by the ticketing agent as the “plating carrier.”

According to Tukur, the global financial crisis; devaluation of the naira; and low traffic as well as high cost of operation among other challenges facing the carriers had made such an option necessary.

He said, “Airlines are really suffering. Some of them are closing routes and they are trying to interline. We are planning interlining with each other to survive.”

He explained that the interlining agreement would help airlines to overcome the problem of having to operate to a destination with less than 20 passengers.

Three airlines for instance, he said could combine 20 passengers each in one aircraft for the trip, rather than picking 20 passengers each to the same destination.

The system was said to have been first introduced in the late the early 1990s between EAS and Bellview Airlines could not work for long for reasons unknown.

Analysts say that ego by airline operators may not allow such method to hold ground in the sector.

London to Lagos flights price comparison

London to Lagos flights price comparison

Flights to Lagos from London are very expensive because demand almost always outstrips supply. There are currently four airlines operating direct flights from London to Lagos -- British Airways, Arik Air, Virgin Atlantic and Bellview Airlines.

There is also a small range of connecting flight options via African and European hubs such as Amsterdam (KLM), Madrid (Iberia), Frankfurt (Lufthansa) and Tripoli (Afriqiyah Airways). We selected three different types of flight for our comparison; a last minute booking (leaving February 13, returning February 20), a mid-week trip (Tuesday March 17 to Thursday March 19) and an advanced fare (Saturday October 17 to Saturday October 24). The prices for flights to Lagos listed below are per person in economy class including taxes, charges and card fees.

Flights to Lagos from London February 13 to February 20

• Arik Air – £481.16
• British Airways – £1229.50
• Virgin Atlantic – Not available
• Cheapest connecting flight - £383 KLM via Amsterdam

Flights from London to Lagos March 17 to March 19

• Arik Air - £463.16
• British Airways - £1246.50
• Virgin Atlantic - £1330.20
• Cheapest connecting flight - £325 Afriqiyah Airways flights via Tripoli

Flights to Lagos from London October 17 to October 24

• Arik Air - £556.16
• British Airways - £601
• Virgin Atlantic - £670.70
• Cheapest connecting flight - £389 Iberia via Madrid
  
  

Our research shows that the new boy on the block, Arik Air, consistently offers lower fares on direct flights to Lagos than perennial rivals British Airways (BA) or Virgin Atlantic. Unfortunately Bellview’s antiquated website made it impossible to find any prices without having to input a whole load of personal information first – a big no no in our book.

We have to admit that we have never flown with Arik Air, so cannot compare their customer service levels with the other airlines offering flights to Lagos. We have used BA and Virgin on countless occasions, including BA flights to Lagos, and they both offer a very similar in-flight experience. Choosing between these two simply comes down to price and whether you prefer to fly overnight (Virgin) or during the day (BA).

Not surprisingly, huge savings can be made if you don’t mind taking connecting flights. This is great if your priority is getting a cheap flight, but it will add a minimum of four hours on to your journey time.

Next week we pitch five of the major online travel agents (Ebookers, Expedia, Lastminute, Opodo and Netflights) against each other to compare which one has the lowest average prices.

18 Airports Record 1,000 flights Weekly

Eighteen Harcourt of the 21 airports under the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), record about 1,000 scheduled flights weekly.

According to the latest edition of Business Travel Information Guilde, the scheduled flights include landing and take-offs.

The airports, which on a weekly basis operate 140 international flights, 65 regional flights, and 630 domestic flights include, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kano, Benin, Ibadan, Akure, Ilorin, Warri, Port Harcourt Air Force Base, Calabar, Enugu, Owerri, Kaduna, Maiduguoi, Jos, Yala, and Sokoto.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, leads the pack with about 388 flights daily as Jos airport handles the lowest number with two flights.

Other airports are Abuja 147; Port Harcourt International Airport 35, Benin 32, Port Harcourt Air Force Base, 19, Calabar 17, Enugu and Warri 14 each; Ilorin and Owerri 10 each; Kano 9, Ibadan 8, Yola 7, Sokoto and Kaduna 6 each.

Lagos Airport has flights to 17 airports, Abuja has flights to 15 airports; Benin has flights to three airports including Calabar, Lagos and Abuja, and Port Harcourt has flights to Lagos, Abuja and Warri.

Two new airlines, Afrijet and Dana, have joined the nine domestic schedule operators since the publication of the last Flight Information Guide bringing the number of operators to 11 as at today.

High costs may force airlines to merge flights

Local airlines are already looking into signing interlining agreements with one another as hard time and competition are hitting the sector heavily.

The Assistant General Secretary, Airlines Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Muhammed Tukur, in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, on Monday, said that three airlines, which were not receiving good patronage, were considering the option in order to mitigate the skyrocketing cost of operations.

Interlining is a voluntary commercial agreement between individual airlines to handle passengers travelling on itineraries that require multiple airlines.

This means that when a ticket is issued for an interline itinerary, one of the carriers marketing flights in that itinerary will be selected by the ticketing agent as the “plating carrier.”

According to Tukur, the global financial crisis; devaluation of the naira; and low traffic as well as high cost of operation among other challenges facing the carriers had made such an option necessary.

He said, “Airlines are really suffering. Some of them are closing routes and they are trying to interline. We are planning interlining with each other to survive.”

He explained that the interlining agreement would help airlines to overcome the problem of having to operate to a destination with less than 20 passengers.

Three airlines for instance, he said could combine 20 passengers each in one aircraft for the trip, rather than picking 20 passengers each to the same destination.

The system was said to have been first introduced in the late the early 1990s between EAS and Bellview Airlines could not work for long for reasons unknown.

Analysts say that ego by airline operators may not allow such method to hold ground in the sector.