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Nigeria records 13% growth as airlines airlift 16m passengers

  Passenger traffic in Nigeria’s aviation industry recorded a major rebound in 2022 with over 16m passengers recorded on both the domestic and international market,…

 

Passenger traffic in Nigeria’s aviation industry recorded a major rebound in 2022 with over 16m passengers recorded on both the domestic and international market, Daily Trust’s analysis of the 2022 Executive Summary of flight operations has revealed.

According to the summary released by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority detailing the number of flights operated by commercial airlines on both the local and international routes, 16,173,361 passengers were recorded in 2022.

This comprises 12,669,639 passengers by domestic airlines and 3,503,722 international passengers.

The summary indicated that 11 domestic airlines operated 80,328 flights with 47,144 of the flights delayed while 26 airlines operated 13,003 international flights with 4,628 of the flights delayed in addition to 82 cancellations.

The passenger figure showed a 13 per cent increase in the 2021 figure of 14.2m and the highest number of passengers to be recorded in the sector after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the figure is nine per cent lesser than the pre-COVID passenger figure of 17.5m which was the highest figure to be recorded under the current administration.

Further breakdown of the passenger figure showed that there were 6,309,662 inbound domestic passengers and 6,359,977 outbound passengers.

The international passenger on the other hand also shows a lingering migratory pattern with inbound of 1,648,255 and 1,855,467 outbound passengers; an indication of a lot of people leaving the country without returning.

While domestic airlines cancelled 795 flights in the year under review, only 82 flights were cancelled by international airlines while the international carriers recorded 48,234 cases of delayed or missing luggage.

In all, the NCAA summary indicated that there were 188 complaints received against the domestic airlines with 135 resolved while 178 complaints were brought against foreign airlines with 123 resolved.

The Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari has attributed the traffic growth to the support the industry received from the present administration which has further increased the domestic airlines to 11 while over 20 prospective airlines are processing their air operator’s certificate.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha speaking at the just concluded 12th edition of the Nigeria Aviation (NIGAV) Award held at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos said the country’s aviation industry has received unprecedented support from the Federal Government which makes it one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.

At the award, Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika bagged the award of Aviation Man of the Year.

Speaking through his representative Mrs Foluke Joshua the SGF said: “Aviation has remained in the centre stage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.”

He added, “This administration has taken very radical steps to re-establish Nigeria’s presence in the global airspace by setting up a new national carrier while opening room for private sector-led sustainable aviation business development, through concession plans of some terminals of Nigeria airports.

“I want to sincerely appreciate Mr Fortune Idu, the Chairman of FCI International Ltd, NIGAV Centre and the organiser of this annual national event for his consistent drive to promote excellence in the sector. I would also like to commend the effort of his team and the committee of Nigerian Aviation development promotion award, known as the NIGAV Committee, for making this a yearly opportunity for uniting the industry. It is important to stress here that Nigeria aviation over the past eight years has sustained development and safe operations.”

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