Business
Flight Ticket Soars Again At PH Airport …As UBA Pays N24m To Resume Operations
The price of flight ticket has gone up again at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.
The Tide’s findings show that the air operators have again increased the flight ticket by another 100 per cent.
The Tide reported three weeks ago that the flight ticket was increased by 100 per cent by airline operators.
With the latest development, the cost of flight tickets for both classes (business and economy) has now gone up by 300 percent.
Findings on Monday showed that the flight ticket for economy class for all airlines that was increased from between N30,000 and N35,000 to N60,000 and N65,000 in November, now goes for between N80,000 and N90,000, for both Port Harcourt-Lagos and Port Harcourt-Abuja routes.
Also, ticket for business class for Port Harcourt-Lagos and Port Harcourt-Abuja routes which was increased from between N60,000 and N70,000 to N100,000 in November, now goes for between N130, 000 and N140,000.
One of the travel agents at the Port Harcourt Airport, Kingsley Ogbonna, told The Tide that the new increase was as a result of inadequate number of airlines for operations, coupled with more passengers that made demand for air tickets.
According to him, there is already scarcity of flight tickets because of pressure from travellers, with few aircrafts that are available for operations.
Meanwhile, a staff of one of the airlines operating at the airport, Mr Chinedu Okonkwo, told The Tide that airlines were currently having the challenge of maintaining their aircrafts which, according to him, was one of the fallouts of COVID-19.
Okonkwo said that airlines were hoping to receive a bail-out fund from the Federal Government.
According to him, the only option for airlines to survive during the Yuletide was to increase price of flight ticket to enable them maintain their aircrafts.
Meanwhile, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) that was sealed by the Airport Authority has been reopened for operations.
One of the senior managers of the bank who craved anonymity told The Tide that the bank paid N24 million to the airport as annual rent of the space before they were allowed to reopen for business.
By: Corlins Walter
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
