Q1 2020 Records Ample Drop in Air Ticket Sale - By Daisy BARRO
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| Mrs.Susan Akporiaye, President of NANTA |
It is no secret that the
aviation industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is only
recently that the pandemic’s devastating effects on the first quarter (Q1) of
2020 have been quantified.
According to the
National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), air ticket sales saw
a massive decrease in Q1 of 2020 - $132 million, as opposed to $282.35 million
worth of tickets sold by foreign carriers operating in and out of Nigeria in Q1
of 2019.
NANTA has revealed that
compared to January 2019, January 2020 registered much higher sales, recording
$70.03 million worth of air tickets sold, surpassing travel agents’
expectations and prompting experts to say it was the “best month for air travel”,
though subsequent months saw a decline in air ticket sales, for obvious
reasons.
In a recent press
conference, Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, President of NANTA expressed her surprise at
the figures recorded in January 2020. In her own words, “Surprisingly, January
2020 was the best month for aviation in Nigeria in recent years. January of
every year is usually very difficult for travel. First quarter is usually slow
for business, but January 2020 was a windfall followed by the month of
February. After March 2020, the industry took a tumble for the worst because of
COVID-19.”
She also called out the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) for preferring Rapid Antigen Test (RDT) over Polymerase
Chain Reaction (PCR) testing, which she says is more comprehensive and cheaper
to do than RDT.
As the vaccination
rollout continues, it is expected that travelers will soon regain confidence in
travel, resulting in an increase in airline ticket sales – a situation that
many industry stakeholders are impatiently waiting for.
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