By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Contraction in air travel caused by coronavirus led to a 38.86 drop in the contribution of aviation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter (Q3) in 2020.
But Nigeria is just one of the countries whose economies have been hit hard by COVID-19 that has ravaged all sectors of society everywhere in the world since the pandemic broke out in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
Global restriction or ban on air travel, for business or tourism, has especially compounded the plight of the aviation sector where some airlines have shut down and others still in business have laid off workers.
The latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria’s aviation contracted 57.38 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and 15.23 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
However, the transportation and storage sector – road transport, rail transport and pipelines, water transport, air transport, and transport services – grew 35.06 per cent Y-o-Y, as it sought recovery from the restricted movements of passengers and goods.
“In real terms, the transportation and storage sector contracted by -42.98 per cent in Q3 2020,” the NBS said.
“This rate represented a slightly better performance than the preceding quarter when it recorded -49.23 per cent, an increase of 6.25 per cent. Year on Year, growth was 18.24 per cent.
“All activities under the transport and storage industry recorded negative growth rates except post and courier services. Quarter on quarter, growth stood at 29.69 per cent.
“Transport activities contributed 1.28 per cent to nominal GDP in Q3 2020, a decline from the 2.03 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, but higher than 1.13 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2020.”
Nairametics adds that the subsector suffered owing to the pay cuts and job losses induced by the pandemic.
Several pilots were sacked and some ground handling companies also took a beating.
Skyway Aviation Handling Company and the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company saw their combined revenue for nine months ended September 30 dip N2.7 billion to N10.1 billion from N12.8 billion in September 2019.
This represents 21.2 per cent reduction in revenue, according to the financial statements of the companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.