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Wakanow partners with IATA, airlines to reduce airfares 

By Laolu Adeyemi
17 March 2018   |   4:13 am
In a quest to reduce airfares for Nigerians and to ensure affordable airfares for customers, Wakanow has teamed up with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and key Airlines to actualise that.

Obinna Ekezie

In a quest to reduce airfares for Nigerians and to ensure affordable airfares for customers, Wakanow has teamed up with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and key Airlines to actualise that.
   
The partnership described by the Group Managing Director of Wakanow, Mr. Obinna Ekezie to be both historic and groundbreaking in the Nigerian travel space, comes on the heels of the settlement of her liabilities to the Association and consequent transition from a two-week Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) to a daily remittance cycle that would significantly reduce fares for travelers.
     
Speaking through a statement made available to The Guardian during the week, Ekezie revealed that the first phase of a larger campaign to further reduce airfares for its customers in Nigeria, with comprehensive plans will be extended to the larger African travel market.

“While Africa accounts for about 12 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for a paltry one percent of the global travel market. One of the reasons the numbers are that low in Africa is the high cost of airfares in the continent, exacerbated by a foreign exchange crisis in countries like Nigeria. So, we are taking the initiative to reduce fares and contribute to empowering about 5 million more passengers to afford air travel,” Ekezie said.

He further explained that the initiative would further reduce the airfares on the Wakanow portal by 30 percent.Revealing that his firm is currently undertaking a large expansion project which will result in stronger footprint across Africa, the UK and USA, Ekezie says Wakanow currently process over 15,000 bookings in Nigeria monthly as the demand for African travel continues to grow.  

Meanwhile, some stakeholders in the Nigerian travel industry have argued that the partnership between Wakanow and her partner Airlines is a great boost to the Single Africa Air Travel Market initiative by the African Union. They are of the opinion that the liberalised air travel market will offer significant value to the African economy through sustainable job creation and stronger GDP earnings.

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