Onyema spoke amid public outrage and regulatory scrutiny over high airfares during the Christmas period, particularly on Southeast routes, which have drawn accusations of exploitation by government agencies and passengers.
The Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has pushed back against allegations of fare exploitation and price fixing by Nigerian airlines, insisting that entry fares still start from ₦150,000.
Onyema spoke amid public outrage and regulatory scrutiny over high airfares during the Christmas period, particularly on Southeast routes, which have drawn accusations of exploitation by government agencies and passengers.
In an interview with Arise News on Sunday, Onyema said, “The bashing of Nigerian airlines has got to stop and it’s very painful when it is coming from government agencies that are supposed to know better.”
He described the use of terms such as “exploitative” and “coordinated price fixing” as “very, very unfair to these airlines.”
Questioning the basis of the allegations, Onyema asked, “How did they get to that conclusion? What are the parameters they used to conclude that airlines were engaging in coordinated price fixing or hiking prices arbitrarily? What exactly did they use to arrive at that?”
Explaining the economics of Southeast operations, Onyema said flights to the region during the festive period often return nearly empty, placing the financial burden on airlines.
“Let’s take the Southeast for instance. When you fly to the Southeast at this period, you’re coming back almost empty. Who pays for the cost of that aircraft coming back?” he asked, stressing that airlines are not operating charter services where passengers pay for both legs of the journey.
He also rejected comparisons with Air Peace’s past evacuation flights.
“Some people accuse us, saying, ‘Oh, you brought Nigerians back from South Africa free of charge… Why are you not doing this one?’ They are not the same thing. When we intervened in those places, lives were at risk,” Onyema said.
Onyema criticised what he described as unrealistic expectations placed on airlines by travellers during the festive season.
“You decided on your own to go and enjoy Christmas in your village and you want the airline to bear the cost of your transportation. It is very unfair,” he said, adding that “airlines in Nigeria are being demonised for nothing.”
Addressing claims that airfares uniformly sell for ₦400,000 or ₦500,000, Onyema dismissed them as false.
“To start with, it is untrue that every fare is ₦500,000 or ₦400,000,” he said. “When you go to the inventory, you will still see ₦150,000.”
According to him, fare differences are driven by demand and booking time.
“You can sit on the same aircraft with somebody who paid ₦125,000, and you can also sit with someone who paid ₦350,000. It graduates. That is the standard in aviation. Nigeria is not different,” Onyema explained.
He further noted that although flights to the Southeast are often fully booked, the return legs are not profitable.
“As you’re coming back, you’re coming back almost empty. Sometimes zero is the word. We have it sometimes at zero. Who pays for that?” he asked.
Onyema also highlighted the high operating costs faced by airlines, citing wet-lease arrangements and statutory charges.
“If you take a wet-lease aircraft and you’re paying about $6,000 per hour… then you talk about other taxes,” he said, noting that “almost 65 to 70 percent of that money is not coming to the airlines. It’s going elsewhere; levies, taxes and other charges.”
Concluding, Onyema lamented what he described as the scapegoating of airlines.
“But we are the sacrificial lamb. Everybody is sacrificing the airlines, even people who pretend not to know,” he said. “So it is very unfortunate that Nigerian airlines are being bashed.”