As the scarcity of dollars continues to affect operations in the Nigerian aviation industry, travel agencies are devising creative ways of remaining in business.
Specifically, Nigerian travel agencies are now collaborating with their counterparts in China, United States of America and Europe to buy flight tickets for intending international travellers from the country, investigation by our correspondent has revealed.
The development follows the acute scarcity of dollars, which has forced foreign airlines to raise airfares by over 200 per cent, with some now accepting only dollars as the means of payment for flight tickets.
In the last one year, over 25 foreign airlines flying into Nigeria have been unable to repatriate over N300bn ticket sales proceeds to their home countries, as the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to ration foreign exchange to commercial banks for sale to users.
In order to mitigate the forex risks, the foreign carriers have raised their airfares sharply, with an average return ticket to Europe now going for between N600,000 and N800,000 instead of the previous N180,000 to N250,000 depending on the season.
An average return flight to North America now costs over N1m, from between N300,000 and N400,000, while the Middle East carriers are still relatively cheap.
An official of one of the travel agencies, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said, “Most travel agencies now partner other agencies in North America, China and Europe to issue tickets to our customers here in Nigeria.
