A recent report by Daily Independent reveals that in 2023, the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja accounted for 62% of Nigeria’s total aircraft movements.
According to independent.ng, The report also showed that airports like Kaduna, Calabar, Sokoto, Yola, Ibadan, Katsina, Birnin Kebbi all had between 1 and 0 percent traffic within the period under review.
The aircraft movement included scheduled, non-scheduled and private jet owners.
The breakdown of the report indicated that the domestic terminal of Lagos airport had 67,670 aircraft movement, showing 23.7 percent of the traffic, while the international wing of the same airport had 25,753 aircraft movement, indicating 9.025 percent.
In all, the two terminals at the Lagos airport had a combined total of 33 percent for 2023.
Also, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, had a combined 29 percent of aircraft movement within the period.
The breakdown revealed that the domestic terminal in Abuja had a grand total of 75,608 aircraft movement, showing 26.49 percent, while its international wing had 8,852 with 3.10 percent within the period.
Total traffic percentage for the two was 29.5 percent.
For Port Harcourt (domestic airport), there was a grand total of 12,831 aircraft movements, while the international wing had 8,852 aircraft movements within the period.
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The combined traffic for Port Harcourt Airport was just 5 percent.
Also, the report indicated that Kano airport had a combined 4 percent traffic within the period.
Its breakdown indicated that the domestic terminal had 8,706 grand total, while its international wing had 2,427 traffic within the period. This made it just 4 percent air traffic movement in 2023 for the airport.
Maiduguri Airport – local and international, had a grand total of 3 percent aircraft movement in 2023, indicating 8,660 movement within the period.
The domestic terminal, according to the report, had 8,565 movements and its international wing had just 95 aircraft landing.
Escravos in Delta State had 3 percent total traffic, showing 7,556 grand total of aircraft movement within the period.
For Enugu airport, it had a combined total of 6,212 aircraft movements in 2023, totaling 2 percent traffic.
Its breakdown revealed 8,706 aircraft movements for domestic flights, while the international airport had 2,427 within the period.
In all, Enugu airport had just 2 percent traffic in 2023.
Owerri Airport had a grand total of 6,358 aircraft movement, showing 2 percent in all, while Ilorin International Airport also had another 2 percent grand total with 5,081 movement.
Breakdown of Ilorin airport showed 5,081 for domestic and just 13 flights for its international wing.
Also, Uyo International Airport had just 2 percent aircraft in total movement in 2023 with 6,389 movements.
Asaba International Airport had 4,863 aircraft movement in the past year, showing just 2 percent of total traffic.
Benin airport also had 5,226 total grand movement in 2023, indicating just 2 percent of total traffic within the period.
Besides, Osubi Airport had a grand total of 3,957 aircraft movements in 2023, responsible for just 1 percent traffic within the period.
Also, Kaduna airport, domestic and international, had just 1 percent grand traffic of aircraft in 2023.
For instance, its domestic terminal had 4,060 while the international terminal received just 28 aircraft within the period, totaling 1 percent.
Other airports in the category of 1 percent were Calabar airport with 2,858; Sokoto airport, 2,405 movement; Ibadan, 2,656; Akure, 2,850; Jos Airport, 1,444; Yola Airport, 2,904; Finima Airstrip in Bonny in Rivers State, 1,926, and Anambra International Airport with 2,222 grand total.
Also, airport with 0 percent within the year under review were Forcados Terminal Airport in Delta State with just 777 aircraft landing and taking off; Birnin Kebbi (local and international), 615 aircraft movement; Katsina International Airport (local and domestic), 1,300 movement; Makurdi Airport, zero grand movement; Gombe International Airport with combined total of 772 aircraft movement and Eket also had zero landing and taking off within the period under review.
Others with 0 percentage in 2023 were Bauchi International Airport with a combined figure of 969 for local and international airports and Minna airport with 160 grand total aircraft movement within the period.
The figures above showed that apart from Lagos and Abuja with combined 62 percent traffic, other airports and airstrips across the country are unviable.
Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), had said recently that only three airports out of the country’s 22 were commercially profitable.
According to her, the authority was cross-subsidising the other 19 airports as they do not get passenger traffic commensurate with their operational cost.
She further said that the majority of the 22 airports managed by FAAN required maintenance and upgrades in critical infrastructure like the terminal areas, the landside as well as the airside.
She said: “I started by saying that we have 22 airports which we own and manage. We also have about six or seven airports that are either owned by state governments or private individuals or entities, which we also support with either aviation security or fire and rescue services.
“We have several states in the North as well as in the South-West that are coming up with new airports. I would say that based on the stats today, only three of the 22 airports are actually profitable and contribute largely to the sustenance of the airport companies that we run.”
