Domestic airlines may lower fares as Dangote Refinery cuts Jet A1 price to N1,650 per litre.

Chinedu Eze

There are strong indications that domestic airlines may slash the cost of local flights by next week, following the confirmation that marketers have begun loading aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, at the new price of N1,650 per litre from the Dangote refinery.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals announced earlier in the week that it had reduced the price of aviation fuel from N1,750 per litre to N1,650 per litre in a move aimed at easing cost pressures on airlines and ensuring uninterrupted fuel supply across the country.

Dangote has also granted marketers and airline operators a 30‑day interest‑free credit facility, and they are now buying the product in Naira; unlike in the past when they had to source dollars to purchase the fuel from Dangote.

The Chairman of Ndano Energy, an aviation oil marketing company, Chris Ndulue, confirmed to THISDAY in a telephone interview that his company has purchased the first batch of aviation fuel from the Dangote refinery at the new price and also expressed happiness that the product was sold to his company in Naira.

“He (Dangote) has done it. I have bought and wired money to him today at the new price. So, it has started. I will sell to the airlines at lower price. It is a significant reduction because he has also started selling in Naira. He moved it down from N1,750. We worked on the price reduction today in the office.”

“We hope the airlines will also bring down their fares because at high prices there will be fewer passengers but with reduced fares, more passengers will fly, so you make money from volume instead of per unit. We have to note that we are selling this product at N900 per litre in February before the war in Iran. So, it was not anybody’s intention to sell as such high price,” Ndulue stated.

He also noted that the prices of the product may further go down in the weeks ahead because the war in Iran has ended, what remains now is the propaganda of war, adding that the pump price of the product may hover around N1,750.

According to him, it is in the interest of the airlines that there is a reduction in the fares to enable more people to travel by air.

“I doubt that the war in Iran can go beyond what it is now because Iran does not have the capacity to continue to fight the war,” he said.

THISDAY investigation revealed that the fares are still relatively high. The cost of tickets for a June 18 flight is very high on busy routes such as Lagos to Abuja. Most of the airlines charge about N200,000 for a one‑hour flight.

Lagos to Chinua Achebe Cargo Airport, Umueri, Anambra State is as high as N270,000 for a one‑way flight. The route is operated by Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines. But Enugu Air has relatively lowered the fares that started from N90,000 to N120,000 for Lagos‑Owerri; Lagos‑Enugu flights.

Observers indicate that as insecurity continues to spread towards southern parts of the country, more Nigerians would want to travel by air but the fares are still high beyond the affordability of many Nigerians who would rather risk the roads than travel by air because of what they described as outrageous fares.

However, marketers as of Wednesday, May 20, 2026 sold aviation fuel to airlines as follows: in Lagos MRS at N1,750, NNPC at N1,890, Raven at N1,950, Nepal at N1,850, Kerojet at N1,850 and Ndano at N1,994 per litre.

Also, Agbenu sold at N2,000, Asharami at N2,010, Octavus at N2,050, CITA at N2,076, Geometrics at N2,150 and Reeve at N2,350, Afloat at N2,400, Eterna at N2,400, Aedova at N2,400 and Accorn at N2,505.

In Abuja, the prices are as follows: MRS, N1,789; NNPC, N1,929; Nepal, N1,930; Raven, N2,050; Asharami, N2,050; Kerojet, N1,930; Ndano, N2,054; CITA, N1,090; Total, N2,100; and Ardova, N2,220.

In Kano, MRS, N1,801; Nepal, N1,900; NNPC, N1,945; Kerojet, N1,946; Asharami, N2,100; Ndano, N2,119; CITA, N2,143; Total, N2,233; Agbenu, N2,500; Ardova, N2,500; and Ocatvus, N2,540.

Although it is expected that the airlines may likely bring down their fares now that aviation fuel price has gone down, THISDAY learnt that high demand may drive up the fares because Nigerians are gearing up for the election next year, and there are indications that there will be increased movement of politicians who will be campaigning for the elections.

Spokesman of Air Peace, Efeoghene Osifo‑Whiskey, told THISDAY that there was a discernible increase in seat demand, especially on some domestic routes, and it spiked during the parties’ primaries, projecting that it would continue like that until the end of the year.

The manager of the airport, Mr. Martins Nwafor, told THISDAY that the route is underserved and disclosed that he had made requests to Air Peace and United Nigeria Airlines to increase their frequency to the airport but they are yet to meet passenger demand on the route.

Osifo‑Whiskey said that Air Peace base fare was about N97,000, so when the fare gets as high as N200,000 and more it means that there is high demand for seats on that route.

“A lot of people are booking flights lately. There is high ticket demand for Anambra state. In fact, a lot of people have been booking flights on our domestic destinations. I guess demand has increased because election is coming up and campaign has started; so, there is a significant spike in seat demand. Another route that has such high demand is Owerri. We recently increased our frequency to three flights a day to Owerri,” he said.

An informed source told THISDAY that beginning from now until the presidential election next year, there will be high demand for flights on scheduled flight service and there will be more activities on general aviation because there is going to be high demand in aircraft charter services.

“Even airlines on scheduled service will have to give out their aircraft for charter at the peak of the campaign. So, this campaign year, a lot of things will happen but if the price of aviation fuel eventually goes back to pre‑Iran war of N900 per litre, airlines will bring down their fares, but there is not going to be a radical reduction of fares because demand will still be high,” the insider source said.