Aircraft movement rises 11% in Q2 2017 on the back of economic recovery

Air passenger traffic (domestic and international) for the three months ending June 2017 has increased by 11 percent over the first three months of 2017, data from the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) show.

The pick-up in passenger traffic further affirms to marginal economic growth recorded by the economy in the first half of the year and indicates that the recovery would be sustained.

As aircraft movement increased by 11.23% in Q2 2017 over Q1 2017 but declined by -20.40% year on year. The quarter on quarter growth in Q2 2017 over Q1 2017, has been attributed to partly due to closure of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja between late Q1 2017 and early Q1 2017 which led to a general decline in passenger and aircraft movement and the reopening of the Abuja airport in the second half of Q2 2017 which once again increased activity in the aviation sector.

The amount of cargo and mail moved through the nations airport was also up by 1.39 percent but -7.72 percent lower than the same period of 2016, while mail was 28.57 percent higher than first quarter of 2017 but 1,070.9 percent higher than second quarter of 2016.

BusinessDay’s checks show that some airlines are witnessing over 20 percent rise in the bookings, especially for new and cheaper destinations, and others are seeing almost double of the number of passengers who booked for same destinations last summer.

Top among the destinations booked for summer include; London, Paris, Dubai, New York, Atlanta, Caribbean Island, and Trinidad and Tobago, while African destinations such as Seychelles and Mauritius are beginning to fight for their share of the Nigerian holiday maker with the likes of South Africa and Kenya.

Expectedly, British Airways is among the top gainers of the impressive bookings as London topped summer holiday destinations for most Nigerians in the UK and Europe.

Kola Olayinka, country manager, British Airways, attributed the positive development to the fact that Nigeria is seeing better times now as airfares are stable when compared to this time last year when foreign airlines could not repatriate their fund, some airlines left, coupled with the very unstable foreign exchange, which resulted in high fares and fewer bookings for summer last year.

“People still travel reasonably and there is need for it. Some people travel for leisure, some for business, and some for studies. The flights are doing very well”, Olayinka said  The boost in air passenger traffic is seen as positive for the economy is still struggling to get out of recession and could signal that the half year marginal growth in the economy would be sustained.

Tayo Ojuri, an industry expert and chief executive officer, Aglo Limited, an aviation support service told BusinessDay that traffic picked up during second quarter of 2017 is because Nigeria is gradually getting out of recession.

“Aviation is usually the first sector affected by recession and will immediately pick up when the economy recovers. We just got out of recession, so expectedly; there should be an increase in disposable income, which will immediately cause an increase in the number of people travelling.”

IFEOMA OKEKE