In the first quarter of 2023, outbound international flights surpassed inbound passenger flights, indicating that more people are leaving the country than those coming in.
This is as international and local airlines recorded high flight delays within the same period.
Documents made available to THISDAY by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), showed that international operators recorded 375, 700 inbound flights and 495, 076 outbound flights, totaling 870, 776 in the first quarter of 2023.
The number of international airlines that operated in Nigeria within the first quarter was 25 with total flights of 3, 073 and a high number of delays put at 1, 193, with 24 cancelled flights.
For the local airlines, there are 11 operators with 18,288 flights with 1, 193 delays, 284 cancellations and 28 air return (when the flight returns to the airport of departure due technical issues).
Domestic operators within the period recorded 1, 391, 560 inbound passenger movement and 1, 400, 031 outbound passenger movement, bringing to a total of 2, 791, 591.
Some of the major international carriers recorded delays higher than what they recorded during the same period last year.
African World Airlines (AWA) recorded 314 flights with 97 delays; Air Cote D’Ivoire 171 flights with 92 delays; Air France, 130 flights with 25 delays and Asky Airlines 275 flights with 107 delays.
Also, British Airways recorded 178 flights with 83 delays; Delta Air Lines, 91 flights, 17 delays; Egypt Air recorded 142 flights with 96 delays; Ethiopian Airlines 270 flights with 115 delays and Kenya Airways with 82 flights and 47 delays.
There were also KLM, which recorded 75 flights with 22 delays; Qatar Airways, 295 flights with 65 delays; Rwand Air recorded 128 flights and 65 delays; Turkish Airlines 100 flights with 43 delays and Virgin Atlantic, 77 flights and 11 delays.
Major foreign airlines that operate to Nigeria recorded inbound and outbound flights as follows: AWA, 9014 inbound and 9677 outbound passengers; Air Code D’Ivoire, 13868 inbound and 14366 outbound passengers; Air France, 19823 inbound and 25340 outbound passengers; Air Peace, 15962 inbound and 20, 346 outbound passengers; Asky, 22433 inbound and 26709 outbound passengers and British Airways, 28,944 inbound and 37, 423 outbound passengers movement.
Also, Delta Air Lines recorded 14, 629 inbound and 19066 outbound passengers; Egypt Air, 51,320 inbound and 75, 927 outbound passengers; Kenya Airways recorded 10, 391 inbound and 11951 outbound passenger movement; KLM, 13, 854 inbound and 18, 196 outbound passengers; while Lufthansa recorded 23, 140 inbound and 29, 137 outbound passenger movement.
Qatar Airways recorded 49, 830 inbound and 64, 395 passengers; Royal Air Marco also recorded within the period 10, 770 in bound and 15, 996 outbound passengers; Saudi Airlines recorded 10, 809 inbound and 13252 outbound passenger movement; Turkish Airlines recorded 16, 748 inbound and 26, 986 outbound passengers and Virgin Atlantic recorded 18, 845 inbound and 25, 669 outbound passenger movement during the period.
The data indicate that most of the airlines recorded more outbound than inbound passengers, which means that more people were leaving the country than those coming in.
On the domestic scene, flight delays are rife and this is attributed to infrastructural constraints, the airlines’ operational style, weather and other factors.
Aero during the first quarter of 2023 operated 1, 123 flights and recorded 624 delays, which is 40 per cent of its operations; Arik Air operated 1, 619 flights, recorded 926 delays, which is 47 per cent of its operations; Azman Air operated 527 flights, recorded 385 delays, which is 58 per cent of its operations and Dana Air operated 711 flights, delayed 474 of them, which is 71 per cent of its operations.
Overland Airways during the period recorded 719 flights with 605 delays, which is 62 per cent of its operations; Air Peace recorded 6, 521 flights with 3, 754 delays, which is 51 per cent of its operations; Max Air recorded 1, 565 flight operations with 1013 delays, 60 per cent of its operations; Ibom Air recorded 2, 312 flights, 746 delays, which is 32 per cent of its operations; United Nigeria Airlines, 1243 flights, 1910 delays, 58 per cent; Green Africa, 1182 flights, 443 delays, which is 34 per cent of its operations and ValuJet, 766 flights, 248 delays, which is 35 per cent of its operations.
Industry experts posit that passenger facilitation at all Nigeria’s airports are slower than what was recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) due to lack of adequate number of equipment and personnel.
THISDAY investigation also revealed that at peak hours passengers delay at the security screening because few X-ray machines are deployed to service the passengers and sometimes there could be X-ray machines in good working conditions but no personnel to use them and process the passengers.
At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos Arik Air side has one X-ray machine, while at Air Peace side, there are two machines but only one is mostly used, even at peak hours.
The consequence is that passengers waiting to be screened spend more time at the queues waiting to be screened.
At the main domestic terminal in Lagos, known as MMA2, there are more screening machines at the central search area, which makes it easier for the processing of passengers, but because more passengers go through the terminal, there are delays at peak hours, which eases off with a short time.
On inbound and outbound passenger movement, Aero Contractors recorded 71, 500 in bound and 70,748 outbound passengers; Arik Air, 142, 767 inbound and 143, 268 outbound passengers; Azman Air, 39, 680 inbound and 40, 154 outbound passengers and Dana Air, 68, 097 inbound and 67, 810 outbound.
Also, Overland Airways recorded 24, 941 inbound and 24, 502 outbound; Air Peace, 598, 486 inbound and 611, 437 outbound; Max Air, 131475 inbound and 132029 outbound and Ibom Air, 174, 679 inbound and 175074 outbound passenger movement.
United Nigeria Airlines recorded 47, 447 inbound, 46, 306 outbound passenger movement; Green Africa, 47, 316 inbound and 44, 817 outbound; while Valujet recorded 45, 172 inbound and 43, 886 outbound passengers.
The total of inbound passenger movement was 1, 391, 560; while outbound was 1, 400, 031 for domestic airlines in the first quarter of 2023.
