In a surprising turn of events, foreign flights from Nigeria are experiencing unprecedented demand and are reportedly fully booked, despite the prevailing scarcity of the naira and economic challenges facing the country.
Most airlines serving the Lagos-London, Lagos-USA, and Lagos-Paris routes were fully booked for the festive season despite the high cost of tickets which keeps increasing.
A return ticket from Lagos to London cost an average of N1.5 million at last week as against N800,000 last Christmas.
While a return ticket from the United States to Lagos costs an average of N2.3 million as against N1.2 million last year.
According to the founder of Scovers Education Nigeria and the International Liason officer at Royal Rhoads University, British Columbia Canada, Christian Idoga, as much as the naira scarcity is affecting people, people are very desperate to travel and do all they can to achieve that. From liquidating businesses to selling their assets.
“I can say that our numbers dropped slightly but everyday, we see desperate people ready to find ways to travel.”
He added that Nigerians always have away around things. For example, “A lot of Nigerians travel to Benin Republic just so they can get cheaper flights.
Mr. Idoga claimed that provided they have an assurance that the plan will work, people will always strive to see it through.
A staff at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in The FCT, Japheth Daniel said, “There is money in Nigeria, and during festive seasons, it is always expected that there will be a surge in passenger traffic in the last quarter of the year with its peak at December.
“This surge spills into January and also early February.”
Nigerians continue to defy economic odds and explore international skies as they pursue opportunities beyond the Nigerian borders.
