As Nigeria grapples with dwindling economy, which has depleted the income of many citizens, including the middle class, less number of people now travel by air to domestic destinations.
In the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) executive summary of international and domestic flight operations from January to December 2024, the figures indicated that there was significant reduction of passenger traffic on domestic flight service in Nigeria.
By the end of 2024, NCAA recorded a total domestic passenger traffic of 11, 549, 442, made up of 5, 727, 700 inbound passengers and 5, 821, 743 outbound passengers, which is over 10 per cent reduction when compared to 2023 total passenger traffic of 12, 050, 144, made up of 6024264 in bound passengers and 6025880 outbound passengers.
Reviewing the passenger movement from 2021, one could see progressive reduction of passenger movement in the domestic patronage of air travel, a situation, industry observers attributed to depleting disposable income of the citizens, high cost of air ticket, a diminishing economy and dwindling capacity in the fleet of airlines.
On the international travel, passenger traffic hovers around the same figures of over 4 million, from January to December 2024, the total number of passengers carried on international destinations is, 4, 135, 750, made up of inbound passengers of 2, 018, 948 and outbound passengers of 2, 116, 802, which is similar to the number of passengers that travelled overseas from Nigeria in the previous years.
In 2021, Nigeria recorded 14, 249, 542, according to NCAA. This was made up of 12, 050, 264 domestic passenger movement and 3, 199, 278 international passenger movement.
In 2022, air Travel traffic peaked at 16. 2 million in both domestic and international travel with over 12 million on domestic travel, while about four million travelled on international destinations.
But Nigeria recorded a total number of 15, 685, 272 passengers in 2023, which was less than 16, 172, 433 who passed through the airports in 2022.
On delayed flights Aero Contractors recorded 1, 882 out of 4, 559; Air Peace, 7, 618 out of 15, 413; Arik Air, 5, 027 out of 10, 699; Azman Air, 76 out of 145 flights; Dana Air, 999 out of 1,446 flights and Green Africa, 1, 499 out of 4, 215 flights.
Others are Ibom Air, 2, 739 out of 7, 856 flights; Max Air, 2, 961 out of 4,783 flights; NG Eagle, 600 out of 1, 166 flights; Overland Airways, 1, 978 out of 3, 407 flights and Rano Air, 1, 699 out of 4, 814 flights.
There are also Umza that recorded 38 delayed out of 52 flights; United Nigeria Airlines, 4, 559 out of 7, 794 flights; ValueJet, 1, 413 out of 3, 933 flights and Xjet, 146 out of 261 flights.
Also, Aero Contractors cancelled 55 flights out of 4, 559; Air Peace, 333 out of 15, 413 flights; Arik Air, 215 out of 10, 699; Azman zero out of 145 flights; Dana Air, 7 out of 1, 446 flights; Green Africa, 89 out of 4, 215 flights; Ibom Arik Air, 140 out of 7, 856 flights and Max Air, 58 out 4, 783 flights.
NG Eagle also cancelled 19 out of 1, 166 flights; Overland Airways, 76 out of 3, 407 flights; Rano Air, 36 out of 4, 814; Umza, 0 out of 52 flights; United Nigeria Airlines, 125 out of 7, 794 flights; ValueJet, 35 out of 3, 933 flights, and Xjet, 1 out of 261 flights.
Reacting to the latest passenger figures, the Executive Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Olu Fidel Ohunayo, acknowledged that disposable income is one of the factors why less number of Nigerians travel by air. He also agreed that there is reduction in patronage.
“I agree with you that the domestic travel is not generally improving for Nigerians. And I also agree that disposable income is part of the reason why we don’t have growth in it. But disposable income is not the major reason. They have seen a serious policy deficiency in place. I can tell you, I just came in from Calabar now. And many airlines that operate into Calabar do not operate on a daily basis. Air Peace two times a week. Aero, twice a week. And it is only Ibom Air that operates every day and with the 50-seater aircraft.
“So, there is still that mismatch between the product we are offering and the airport itself and the positions available. And we cannot continue to expect any miracle. Because disposable income is not enough. We also need to begin to work on the regulations. And in doing that, we have advocated a new regime of licenses should be done to encourage those other airports.
People should be able to go to cities from other cities. Or go to one state from another state. And you can only do that by allowing a new set of regulations that would allow smaller aircraft to operate. These smaller aircraft do not come as brand new anymore,” he said.
Speaking in similar vein, the Managing Director, Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan, also confirmed that the disposable income of Nigerian air travellers has shrunk because there is the need to prioritize their expenditure items.
“It must be extremely necessary for the few middle class remaining to undertake private air travel. Domestic ticket prices are not exploitative but they are out of reach for the middle class. We used to travel by air to attend birthdays, weddings, burials, and visit our villages on holidays. Lots of people will now send money and gifts with apologies; or they travel by road to areas where security risk is low. Corporate organisations and government agencies are the main sponsors of air travel for their personnel on official trips. But most organisations have had to cut their travel budgets too. Virtual meetings and emails are used for negotiations and transactions. Physical meetings are done only when absolutely necessary,” he said.
Akpan also noted that airline operators have to manage yield, remarking that an operator ought to have huge capital funds to be flying below break-even payload; or below minimum monthly utilisation required for the economy of their aircraft type.
“Low utilisation of aircraft and low yield per seat per hour, per mile, or per flight rotation means inability to meet the cost of production. Operators have to carefully plan their routes to align with market demands. They are burdened with multiple taxes and high fees which they need to pass to passengers. The passengers’ ability to pay has limit because their disposable income has limit too. To groom new markets, require capital funding which is not cheap in this economy. The security for the funds, the interest rates and the tenor for loans are not friendly to airlines route development programme,” he said.
Mr. Akpan said Nigeria’s domestic air travel market has room for growth, noting that competition is necessary for quality services.
“The business environment is harsh on airline investments and management. Obvious gap exists between the national development agenda and the aviation industry. Our national development program and the aviation investment program has to complement each other and there must be synergy of strategy. For the scheduled passenger operators, how much is left from the ticket price per seat after paying all charges/fees, taxes and other sundry costs of operations? Yet they must meet their schedules or face backlash from customers and regulators,” Akpan said.
He observed that the busiest Nigerian airports in Lagos and Abuja are literally deserted after peak hours, a trend magnified by the deteriorating economy.
“The best achievement in our industry today is safety, not fleet growth, not cargo growth, not passenger growth. The airline operators and the regulatory agencies have attained high and acceptable international safety practices; but we also need aircraft fleet, passengers and cargo to grow. All our major scheduled operators are IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certified,” he said.
