Airline passenger traffic within Nigeria grew significantly by 23.19 percent to 12,791,639 passengers in 2018, from 10,383,452 in 2017, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) yesterday.
This is also as the total number of international passengers who passed through Nigerian airports reached 4,438,799 in 2018 as against 4,056,717 passengers in 2017, representing 9.42 percent increase.
Also, aircraft traffic reached 290,328. The total number of international aircrafts recorded was 55,961 in 2018 as against 40,328 aircrafts in 2017, representing an increase of 38.92 percent.
This significant increase, experts say, was driven by economic recovery, political activities in 2018 and remodelling of some of the country’s major airports.
“The first quarter of 2018, we technically went out of recession, which is a major driver. Passenger traffic is driven by economic activities. The major airport that is driving this growth aside from Lagos is Abuja. Politics and budget also increase passenger traffic,” said Tayo Ojuri, CEO of Aglow Aviation Support Services Limited.
“There wasn’t any major event but there was politics and economic recovery. I think what we should look at is if this is sustainable. If there is growth, we can now look at infrastructures to accommodate more passengers?” Ojuri said.
Henrietta Yakubu, corporate communications manager, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said air traffic has gone up because the roads are no longer safe for travelling and the construction of new terminals at Abuja and Port Harcourt airports also encouraged passengers to travel by air.
“People are running away from kidnappers and armed robbery on the highway. People look for money by all means to fly because it is safer. In the news today (Monday), Nasarawa was attacked. It is no longer safe travelling by road,” Yakubu said.
She assured that the ambiance across the airports has improved, especially with the opening of the new terminals in Abuja and Port Harcourt, making it more attractive for passengers.
“People are expectant because the infrastructures are top notch. The toilets are clean and everything about the new terminals is a great improvement from the previous ones. A lot of people are curious and people are more interested in travelling now than they were before,” she added.
According to the NBS data, the total number of domestic aircraft grew by 11.24 percent to 234,367 in 2018, from 210,693 aircraft in 2017.
Cargo traffic grew by 1.94 percent in 2018 compared to 2017, while there was a 19.96 percent increase in total mail traffic in 2018 compared to 2017.
Chris Iwarah, corporate communications manager, Air Peace, however, thinks there is no significant growth in domestic traffic despite the data released by NBS.
According to him, Air Peace operated about three-quarters of domestic air flights in Nigeria two years ago and that has not changed.
“We have had 100 to 130 passenger load. I will not say there is any significant rise in flight movement, until I go through our records again,” Iwarah said.
“Although we have increased our fleet size, don’t forget that some other airlines have reduced capacity. At some point we had about eight active scheduled operators but I don’t think we have up to that now. Even those operating have reduced their flights,” he said.
IFEOMA OKEKE
