Emirates Airlines is advertising cheap dollar fares to Nigerian passengers, but this campaign has been met with both criticism and applause from aviation experts and travelers.
BusinessDay’s checks on Monday found that all fares on Emirates Airlines’ website were quoted in dollars, but prices were competitive compared to other airlines.
“The news that Emirates is reopening bookings should be good news, but it is not because bookings are made in dollars. This means that people will have to buy dollars on the black market to pay for Emirates tickets, which will put pressure on the foreign exchange market, which will lead to shortages and price hikes,” Susan Akporaiye, Managing Director and CEO of Topaz Travels and Tours, told BusinessDay.
Also read: Concerns as Emirates allows ticket bookings in dollars
Emirates had previously announced that it would resume flights to Nigeria from October 1, 2024. The flight will offer a daily service between Lagos and Dubai, giving customers more choice and connections from Nigeria’s largest city to and via Dubai.
The service is operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. EK783 leaves Dubai at 09:45 and arrives in Lagos at 15:20. The return flight EK784 leaves Lagos at 17:30 and arrives in Dubai the next day at 05:10.
Olumide Ohunayo, industry analyst and head of research at Zenith Travels, told BusinessDay there is a possibility that Emirates opened the system and took some time to convert its fares to naira, or that it introduced dollars and offered the cheapest fares.
“When I checked the Australian route from here, I found that Emirates has the cheapest fares. If it’s in dollars and I have to use naira to buy dollars and it’s cheaper for me in naira, I’ll still choose the fare that’s in dollars. This is a bit tricky. It might be a marketing gimmick. I’d rather wait until October 1, when they say they’re going to start, and see what happens.
“They cannot afford to compete against the travel agents. This airline is profitable even without the Nigerian route. They may be the first airline to say they are going against the norm and bypassing travel agents, but I hope not. They have been able to prove to everyone in the industry that they are a strong force even without the Nigerian market,” Ohunayo said.
Ohunayo suggested that if Emirates could make big profits by stopping flights to Nigeria, it must also have a strategy to succeed in the Nigerian market.
He recalled that one of the reasons for Emirates’ withdrawal from the Nigerian market was tied up funds and fuel suppliers, pointing out that the airline paid in dollars while others paid their suppliers in naira.
“These are some of the things they should renegotiate before they go back. How can we even ask them to charge in naira when the suppliers are charging in dollars for the services they provide? If you are going to ask them to charge in naira, then the same should apply to government agencies. When you come to equity, come with clean hands.”
BusinessDay’s findings show that a round-trip economy class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow costs 2.3 million naira on KLM, 2.2 million naira on Air France, 2.7 million naira on Ethiopian Airlines, 2.7 million naira on Egypt Air and 3.2 million naira on Virgin Atlantic.
A round-trip business class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow costs 5.7 million naira on Royal Air Maroc, 6.5 million naira on Air Peace, 6.9 million naira on Turkish Airlines, 7.1 million naira on Egypt Air and 7.4 million naira on Qatar Airways.
However, a round-trip economy class ticket from Lagos to London Heathrow on Emirates costs USD 1,130, or N1.83 million, while a business class ticket costs USD 4,290, or just over N6.9 million.
In addition, a round-trip economy class ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Emirates costs USD 987, which is 1.59 million naira at an exchange rate of 1,620 naira per US dollar. A round-trip business class ticket from Lagos to Dubai on Emirates costs USD 4,418, which is 7.1 million naira.
Also read: Why Emirates is considering operating flights without lifting the visa ban
A round-trip economy class ticket from Lagos to Dubai costs N1.63 million on Turkish Airlines, N1.17 million on Kenya Airways, N1.3 million on Egypt Air, N1.3 million on Qatar Airways, N1.5 million on Ethiopian Airlines and N1.7 million on Emirates.
A round-trip business class ticket from Lagos to Dubai costs 4.1 million naira on Egypt Air, 4.8 million naira on Kenya Airways, 4.97 million naira on Qatar Airways, 4.98 million naira on Turkish Airlines and 5 million naira on Ethiopian Airlines.
Yinka Folami, president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), said that despite Emirates opening up ticket booking, the UAE’s visa policy is still very exclusive.
“The restrictions are still high. I expect an airline like Emirates, which has been out of the market for about two years, to come into the market with an entry strategy. As a Nigerian, I am concerned about Emirates charging in dollars.
“Our legal tender is still the naira and my personal experience is that if we continue to have dollars as our currency in Nigeria, the naira will continue to come under pressure. That is how I see it,” Folami said.
According to him, he would prefer that the country’s legal tender be respected, adding that beyond ticket prices, Nigeria is a sovereign state that deserves respect.
