While foreign airlines continue to thrive in Nigeria’s aviation sector, raking in an estimated $1.7 billion annually from over 200 weekly flights, local carriers are facing mounting challenges. Industry stakeholders warn that the widening gap threatens the growth and sustainability of domestic airlines in the country.
According to guardian.ng, the surge in frequencies and turnover is not unconnected with the increase in patronage from the globetrotting Nigerian public, now requiring an estimated 54,997 seats every week.
Sadly, Nigerian flag carriers, led by Air Peace airline, are still outmuscled in the highly competitive sector, accounting for only 9.96 per cent of the market share.
Confirming the frequency surge, the 2025 Weekly Foreign Airlines Flight Frequencies report revealed that while the foreign airlines are dominating on the Nigerian routes, the country’s airlines provide only 5,498 weekly seats to regional and a few international routes out of Nigeria’s five international airports when compared to the ones provided by the 18 foreign airlines.
The 18 foreign airlines on the list are British Airways, 14 weekly frequencies; Virgin Atlantic, seven; KLM, 21; Air France, 11; Lufthansa, 13; Ethiopian Airlines, 27; Emirates Airlines, 14; and Royal Air Maroc, with another seven weekly frequencies.
Others are Qatar Airways, seven; Turkish Airlines, 13; Egypt Air, four; Delta Airlines, seven; Kenya Airways, seven; Africa World Airlines, 14; ASKY Airlines, 12; RwandAir, 10; South African Airways, seven; and Saudi Airlines with five weekly flights.
The breakdown of the statistics indicated that Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier of Ethiopia, leads the pack among foreign carriers with the highest seat capacity and was closely followed by Emirates Airlines, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
For instance, the airline operates five times daily to four international airports in the country, operating three different aircraft brands to Nigeria in the process.
The East African airline has a total weekly seat of 8,275 on the Nigerian routes, using Boeing 777-300ER, B737 Max and B787 Dreamliner on the Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Kano routes.
Ethiopian Airlines operates twice daily to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), using B777-300ER and Boeing 737 Max with combined seat capacities of 451 and 189, respectively, while it also deploys B777-300ER to Abuja with the same 451 seat capacity.
On the Enugu route, the airline operates B737 Max with 189 seating capacity and Kano airport with B787, which has 335 seating capacity. Just recently, the airline unveiled plans to increase its weekly frequencies to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, to 10 from the present seven on the route. The new route commences on October 28, 2025.
Also, Emirates Airlines operates 6,314 seats weekly from its base in Dubai. The statistics revealed that Emirates operates a combined 14 weekly frequencies from its base in Dubai to Lagos and Abuja airports, using B777-300ER with configuration of 451 capacities each.
KLM, the Dutch flag carrier, operates 21 weekly frequencies to three major airports in Nigeria – Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja with a combined figure of 5,964 available seats.
The airline deploys Airbus 330-300 and A330-200 with seat capacities of 292 and 268, respectively. It operates the A330-300 aircraft to Lagos and Port Harcourt airports, while the A330-200 is deployed to Abuja airport.
