Amid foreign exchange and fuel crises, air travel in Nigeria rose last year owing to the spate of insecurity and months-long election campaigns.
Airlines operating in the country took a beating last year from aviation fuel scarcity, which led to high fare prices, and the lingering shortage of FX that prevented foreign carriers from repatriating their funds.
“Nigerian travel is rebounding because of security, elections and campaigns. Elections have made people move from one part of the country to another to campaign,” Olumide Ohunayo, an aviation analyst, told BusinessDay.
“Travel has increased from the time of the primaries last year till date. Also, people now prefer to travel by air as a result of insecurity.”
The aviation fuel crisis, which began in late February last year and deteriorated further through May, threatened the ability of airlines to continue operations, with the price of JetA1 rising from N200 in December 2021 to over N400 per litre in February and N800 in May.
The situation forced airlines to raise base fares from an average of N28,000 to between N50,000 and N100,000. Stakeholders had predicted that the fare hike would lead to a drop in passenger traffic but the reverse was been the case.
The elections and insecurity challenges across the country have seen passenger numbers and aircraft movements increase.
An executive summary published by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) showed that the number of air travellers rose to over 16 million between January and December 2022, a 6.4 percent increase from 15.23 million passengers in 2021.
While this is still below the 18.1 million recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, it shows that the market is on its way to full recovery.
Ohunayo said the fares charged by most transport companies for interstate travels have increased by over 100 percent, making some passengers opt for air travel.
He said: “You find out that if you book air tickets early enough, the difference between air fares and road transport company fares is between N15,000 and N20,000. So, more people who can afford it would rather not take that risk or the discomfort to travel by road.
“The advent of new airlines has also brought in new fare structures that have made people get better fares.”
According to Ohunayo, routes that were previously not available are now available, and frequencies have increased due to the number of aircraft in place.
“If people cannot make it in on the first flight, they can travel in the afternoon or evening. With more routes and frequencies, you have more travel,” he added.
In 2022, 37 airlines flew over Nigeria, with 26 running 13,003 foreign flights and 11 operating 80,328 domestic flights.
In comparison to the prior year, many international airlines carried more passengers to and from Nigeria in 2022.
John Ojikutu, a former military commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, said the rise in local passenger traffic in Nigeria was connected to the insecurity on the roads.
According to Ojikutu, the fuel price increase caused by the cost of importation might have caused the increase in local airfares, and the increase is necessary to sustain the operational costs of the airlines if many Nigerians have to resort to air travelling because of the insecurity on the roads.
He said: “An increase of about six percent over the previous year is significant. The projection for passenger traffic actually for 2020 was 20 million but for COVID-19, it would have been so if the traffic for 2019 was 18 million.
“The scarcity of foreign exchange affects the foreign airlines more than the local airlines but the increase in local airfares should be sufficient to take care of the fuel costs but such increase cannot be sufficient for foreign exchange at banks to sustain the foreign airlines’ operations.”
Experts say the talent exodus from the country, popularly known as ‘Japa’, also contributed to the increase in the number of passengers who travelled out of the country in 2022.
There were 1.86 million outbound travellers last year, compared to 1.65 million who came into the country, according to NCAA data.
With over 400,000 people flying on Ethiopian Airlines to and fro Nigeria, the airline had the most passenger traffic. British Airlines was in second place, with 273,138 passengers on 616 flights.
The months of April, July, and August saw the majority of international flights enter and exit Nigeria. The highest international traffic at Nigerian airports was in December, with 347,497 passengers.
On domestic flights, Air Peace operated 24,229 flights, followed by Ibom Air with 10, 910 flights and Arik Air operated 9,759 flights.
Seyi Adewale, chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, said several factors led to the 2022 passenger traffic performance.
Adewale said the pre-election year saw a significant number of passenger travels mostly by politicians.
He said local airlines are now mastering the art of forming good alliances or partnerships with international airlines regarding dry or wet leases that have the better financial capacity to drive this high capital-intensive business that is further supported by superior supply chain capabilities.
In March 2022, Air Peace, Azman Air, United Nigeria Airline, Arik Air, Aero Contractors, and Max Air commenced an alliance, called the ‘Spring Alliance’, to mutually support one another’s operations and surpass the expectations of the flying public.
The alliance has seen airlines partner to carry partner airlines’ passengers in situations when an airline has difficulty operating.
Read also: Nigeria’s airport passenger traffic hits three-year high
Mainstream Cargo CEO hinted that the airline routes are increasing, thereby connecting more cities across the country that were hitherto excluded due to insecurity, non-availability of airfield or its inappropriateness, and non-attendant interest or motivation by state governments, among others.
“New operating hubs/headquarters were created outside the traditional Lagos and Abuja operating centres, which is an excellent development. This is being supported by new airline entrants that explored new opportunities in pricing, and development of their routes, among others,” he said.
BusinessDay’s investigation shows that beyond Lagos and Abuja, airlines have begun to build hubs in other cities such as Akure, Ilorin, Enugu, Owerri and Port Harcourt.
According to Adewale, airline safety culture is improving and is jealously guarded by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
“Nigerians generally love travelling; more so, it’s seen as a status symbol. The significant youthful population is working hard and striving to be part of the middle class and this helps drive aviation traffic performance,” he said.
