The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that domestic air transport fares increased by 66.36 per cent in the last one year.
In its latest report titled ‘Transport Fare Watch (February 2023)’, the NBS stated that the average fare paid by air passengers in air travel for specified routes single journey decreased by 0.18 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N74,702.70 in January 2023 to N74,571.62 in February 2023.
It, however, rose by 66.36 per cent year-on-year from N44,825.04 in February 2022.
The report also indicated that the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within cities per drop decreased by 0.47 per cent in February 2023 to N647.66 from N650.70 in January 2023, but on a year-on-year basis, the average fare rose by 26.07 per cent from N513.72 in February 2022.
For bus intercity per drop, the average fare paid by commuters dropped by 0.19 per cent on a month-on-month basis or N3,990.70 in February 2023, compared to N3,998.42 in the previous month. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 4.02 per cent from N3,836.45 in the same period last year.
The average fare paid on Okada transportation, according to the NBS, was N461.28 in February 2023, which was 1.07 per cent lower than the rate recorded in January.
“On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 21.67 per cent when compared with February 2022 (N379.12). In addition, the average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in February 2023 stood at N1,029.47, showing an increase of 12.74 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N913.13 in February 2022. On a month-on-month basis, it declined by 0.33 per cent from N1,032.84 in January 2023,” the report added.
SOURCE: THE PUNCH