Air travel traffic on international routes rises 57.6% YoY
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
International passengers who travelled through Nigerian airports reached 2.2 million in 2021, up 57.6 per cent on 1.4 million on 2020, but is a mere fraction of the total 13 million passengers when local fliers are counted.
The figures are disclosed in the report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Air Transportation for 2021 just released.
“About 13 million passengers travelled through Nigerian airports in 2021 and that represents a growth rate of 43.41% from 9 million recorded in 2020. The total number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 6.5 million, which was higher compared to the 4.9 million recorded in 2020,” the report said.
“The departure stood at 6.5 million in 2021 compared to 4.2 million in 2020. 2.2 million international passengers passed through Nigerian airports in 2021, as against 1.4 million passengers in 2020. It represents a 57.61% growth rate.”
Breakdown
- Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja had 4.76 million domestic travellers, 37 per cent of the total.
- Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos had 4.09 million domestic passengers (31 per cent).
- Foreign arrivals 1.1 million, departures 1.1 million. A total 2.2 million foreign movements.
- Q1 2021 arrivals 212,977 departures 222,453
- Q2 2021 arrivals 220,171 departures 232,501
- Q3 2021 arrivals 318,841 departures 285,189
- Q4 2021 arrivals 391,284 departures 335,730.
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Leaderboard
More people left Nigeria than returned. Most passengers enroute United Kingdom, Canada, among others, did not return, according to the report, per Nairametrics.
- British Airways took out 130,820 passengers and returned with 107,519
- Turkish Airlines airlifted 115,283 and brought back 95,302.
- Qatar Airways flew out 116,664 and brought back 111,964.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)’s Executive Summary of International and Domestic Flights shows that
- Africa World, Asky Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, British Airways, and Turkish Airlines are the most sought-after airlines. They lifted 40.3 per cent of the total international passengers.
- Out of 27 airlines that operated in Nigeria in 2021, these five lifted 886,297 international passengers (inbound and outbound) out of the total 2,199,278.
