Airlines slash fares to Europe on low travels

By Joy Baba-Yesufu

As the aviation industry enters into a low travel season, airlines operating from Nigeria to Europe are beginning to slash their fares and offering business promotions to woo passengers.

A low travel season is a period when there is a reduction in the number of people who are willing to travel. It occurs between February and May of every year.

Popular carrier British Airways recently offered its premium economy class ticket to London at $300 as against over $1000.

Generally, for several airlines, the price of a one-way economy class return ticket from Lagos to Europe has dropped by 15 percent- 25 percent from N2 million to N3 million seen by the summer of 2024.

A Lagos to London Gatwick summer ticket currently costs between N1.5 million to N1.8 million as against over N2 million seen by the summer of 2024.

Also, a Lagos to France ticket is priced between N1.5 million to N1.9 million today, with Lagos to Amsterdam costing between N1.6 million to N1.9 million. Moreover, a Lagos to Brussels ticket currently goes between N1.6 million and N1.8 million. These rates are cheaper when compared with the summer period of 2024.

Similarly, a one-way business class return ticket from Lagos to Europe, which cost between N5 million and N9 million last summer, has been reduced across most European routes.

A Lagos to London Heathrow business class ticket now costs between N4 million and N6.8 million, while a Lagos to France trip is priced between N3.2 million and N8 million.

Similarly, a Lagos to Berlin business class ticket costs between N5 million and N7.4 million, with a Lagos to Amsterdam trip on a business class priced between N4.2 million to N8.5 million.

Also, a Lagos to Brussels business class ticket costs between N4.8 million and N6.8 million.

“People are not really travelling now, so airlines are doing aggressive marketing with promo fares. Whatever ticket price you are seeing that looks cheap must either be a promo fare or because the rate of airlines’ exchange has stabilised. These have kept the fares a bit stable. Once we enter the high season, the fares will change,” Susan Akporaiye, former president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies said.

Alex Nwuba, president, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria, said airlines can offer cheaper fares because the ecosystem enables it.

“Europe offers a healthy mix of premium and low-cost airports with varying charges, lower handling charges, lower cost of doing business, and a healthy policy environment, which they can pass onto passengers in the form of low fares. The reverse is clearly the case in Nigeria where airlines are held hostage by the system itself, which translates into higher cost of operations and higher fares,” Nwuba, who is a former chief executive officer of the Associated Airlines, said.

Similarly, Air France has reduced air ticket prices to maintain full economy cabins on its transatlantic flights due to a weakening demand for international travel, the airline’s CEO, Ben Smith, told Bloomberg TV.

This is, however, largely tied to Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs which he later paused on Wednesday.

However, airlines are generally seeing a weakening demand for a number of other reasons including plummeting purchases across the Atlantic and consumer pullback on bookings.