Driving airlines' survival with route planning, fair pricing

• Published date: 24 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Rising costs are forcing carriers to return to the drawing table to remain in business.

Besides the multiple charges - landing and parking fees, ground rent, fuel surcharge, en route navigation charges, terminal levy and other payments operators have to make, rising costs of aviation fuel is compounding the woes for indigenous carriers.

To navigate the bend, airlines are reworking their strategies to break the ice to get more passengers on board.

While major airports, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano, are gaining traction for older carriers, Aero Contractors, Arik Air, Air Peace, Dana Air, and AZMAN Air, Max Air, new comers such as United Nigeria Airlines,ValueJets Airlines and Green Africa Airways are looking in the direction of frontier routes.

In an interview, Managing Director, ValueJets Airlines, Captain Dapo Majekodunmi, said carriers that would remain afloat must identify a niche in the air travel space and consolidate on it.

Majekodunmi said though airlines are increasing in numbers, operators poised to keep flying must latch on fair pricing and other strategies to have the competitive edge.

Besides right pricing, he said the carrier has adopted other measures, including route and fleet expansion as well as diversification to make profit.

He said ValueJet plans to begin flights to Jos, as the carrier is keeping an eye on other routess.

The carrier, he said, is consolidating expansion plans that would see it spread its wings to other key destinations.

Experts say expansion plans by indigenous carriers would assist to bring down the cost of tickets without compromising safety.

To achieve the objective, some indigenous carriers have designed various cabin configuration and baggage programme to attract significant load factor.

While some carriers have various fare regimes for passengers travelling with seven kilogrammes of hand-held luggage with 23 kilograms checked - in bag, the fare offering is different from the premium service that accommodates a seven- kilogramme-hand luggage and 30- kilogramme-two-piece checked-in bag.

Investigations show that local carriers are stepping up competition as they set their eyes on frontier routes, including Akure, Yola, Kano, and Gombe.

Experts say frontier routes in the domestic travel space hold opportunities for local carriers.But, Majekodunmi said carriers could go beyond concentrating on such routes by latching on to on-time performance.

He said ValueJets Airlines has for over three months of its existence...