Domestic flights nosedive YoY
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Domestic flight operations nosedived 215 per cent from 74,537 in the first quarter of the year ended March 2021 (Q1 2021) to 23,599 in Q1 2022, according to data produced by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Correspondingly, the number of cancelled flights across airports declined from 41,328 in Q1 2021 to 14,130 in Q1 2022,
Air Peace notched the highest number of flights at 6,669 and also the most number of delayed flights at 4,241 in Q1 2022.
Ibom Air came second with 2,981 flight movements and 923 delayed flights. Arik Air followed with 2,955 flight movements and 1,937 delayed flights.
Back in Q1 2021, Air Peace had the highest number of flight movements at 17,861 as well as the most number of delayed flights at 9,908.
Air Peace, Dana Air, and Max Air had the most delayed flights in Q1 2021, the report shows, per reporting by Vanguard.
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Airlines blame 80% flight hassles on airport deficiencies
Airlines blame flight delays and cancellations and other sundry hassles experienced by fliers on infrastructure deficiencies at Nigerian airports despite heavy taxes and levies paid by operators and travellers to the authorities.
These charges are paid to the NCAA, the industry regulator; and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which manages commercial airports and provides services to passengers and airlines.
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) Chairman Abdulmunaf Sarina said most flight problems are outside the control of carriers which grapple with inadequate facilities at airports.
“80 per cent of the causes of delays and cancellations are due to factors that are not under the control of airlines.
“Airlines operating in Nigeria are forced to operate in an environment that is wrought with infrastructure deficiencies that are highly disruptive to normal schedule reliability and on-time performance,” Sarina explained in a statement in April.
“Some of the more prevalent causes of delays and cancellations include unavailability and rising cost of Jet A1 (which today costs above N585 per litre in Lagos, N607 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N685 in Kano).
There are also “inadequate parking space for aircraft on the apron sometimes leading to ground accidents, inadequate screening and exit points at departure, inefficient passenger access and facilitation, natural and unforeseen circumstances such as weather and catastrophic failures (e.g. bird strikes & component failures), and restrictions caused by sunset airports among others.”