Nigerian airports handled 57.55m passengers in four years -Bureau

A total of 57,550,193 passengers used 22 Nigerian airports between 2010 and 2013; statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics have shown.

The report titled Summary Report of Passenger Traffic: 2010-13 and Q1, 2014 which was released by NBS in Abuja on Thursday showed that the number of passengers handled by the airports attained its peak in 2011 with a total of 14,899,958 passengers.

In 2010, a total of 13,891,677 passengers passed through Nigerian airports, increasing by 908,281 passengers or 6.5 per cent in 2011 to reach 14,899,958 passengers.

There was a drop in 2012 of 5.19 per cent or 773,168 passengers to give a total of 14,116,790 passengers, a figure which was to grow by 524,978 passengers or 3.72 per cent in 2013, reaching 14,641,768 passengers.

In 2010; domestic passenger travel stood at 10,753,725 passengers, increasing by 549,491 passengers or 5.11 per cent in 2011, yet decreasing by 1,627,356 passengers or 14.4 per cent in 2012 to reach a total of 9,675,860 passengers.

Growth was positive in 2013, although slowed to 4.12 per cent, representing an increase of 398,668 passengers, reaching 10,074,528 passengers, the report said.

For international passenger travel; from the 3,227,952 passengers recorded in 2010, there was an increase of 358,790 passengers or 11.12 per cent in 2011. In 2012, the number of passengers rose by 854,188 or 23.82 per cent to reach 4,440,930 passengers.

By 2013 there was a marginal increase of 126,310 passengers or 2.84 per cent, although the total recorded was 4,567,240 passengers.

The report showed that the airport most frequented by passengers was the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, which had the greatest number in all years of review.

In 2010, 6,273,545 passengers travelled through the airport, making up 44.87 per cent of the annual total.

The number increased each year, by 472,745 passengers or 7.54 per cent in 2011; 132,996 passengers or 1.97 per cent in 2012 and 381,892 passengers or 5.55 per cent in 2013.

The airport's share of total passengers also expanded over the period, to 45.31 per cent of the total in 2011, 48.73 per cent in 2012 and 49.59 per cent in 2013.

According to the report, the second most used airport in Nigeria is Abuja's Nnamdi Azikiwe, which had 3,922,547 passengers in 2010 or 28.05 per cent of the passenger total. The number increased in 2011 by 293,600 passengers of 7.48 per cent, increasing its share to 28.32 per cent of the total.

However, in 2012; there was a decline of 536,923 passengers or 12.73 per cent to reach 3,679,224 passengers. The airport's share of the total dropped to 26.06 per cent.

There was a slight uptick in 2013, with 266,673 or 7.25 per cent more passengers, reaching a total of 3,945,897 or 26.95 per cent of the annual total.

Port Harcourt was the third most frequented airport in Nigeria. At 1,211,816 passengers, it held 8.67 per cent of the total in 2010. After growing by 134,795 passengers or 11.12 per cent in 2011, passenger numbers dropped by 154,465 people, or 11.47 per cent the following in 2012.

From the 1,192,136 passengers travelling through Port Harcourt in 2011, there was a marginal increase of 28,170 passengers or 2.36 per cent in 2013, reaching 1,220,306 passengers or 8.33 per cent of the total in the year.

The airport with the fewest passengers was Akure in Ondo State, which carried just 6,640 passengers in 2010, making up 0.05 per cent of the total.

Despite a decrease of 567 passengers or 8.54 per cent in 2011, so that Akure airport carried just 6,073 passengers or 0.04 per cent of the total, this was not the lowest in that year.

In 2011, Minna airport carried just 1,924 passengers or 0.01 per cent of the total. Akure continued to constitute the lowest number of passengers in 2012 and 2013, representing just 0.05 per cent and 0.07 per cent of the totals in each year respectively, the report added.

Looking at domestic passenger traffic only, there was more equal split between airports. In 2010, Lagos' share was 35.94 per cent or 3,864,458 passengers travelling domestically, while Abuja had a similar share of 31.26 per cent or 3,361,107 passengers. Port Harcourt contributed 1,198,668 passengers or 11.15 per cent of the total.

Owerri, Benin, Osubi and Calabar contributed 476,063 passengers or 4.43 per cent of the total; 348,906 passengers or 3.24 per cent of the total; 343,333 passengers or 3.19 per cent of the total; and 281,556 passengers or 2.62 per cent of the total in 2010 respectively.

International passenger traffic was dominated by Lagos' Murtala Muhammed Airport, which had 2,409,087 internationally bound passengers or 74.63 per cent of the total in 2010. The number using the airport for international travel increased over the period, by 210,103 passengers or 8.72 per cent in 2011; 613,272 passengers or 23.41 per cent in 2012 and by 150,876 or 4.67 per cent in 2013.

The second most used airport for international travellers was Abuja. In 2010, the airport hosted 561,440 internationally bound passengers or 17.39 per cent of the total. This number increased by 29,845 or 5.32 per cent in 2011; 183,448 or 31.03 per cent in 2012 and by 54,530 in 2013.

Of the 3,416,977 passengers that used Nigerian airports in the first quarter of 2014; 2,352,224 or 68.84 per cent of them were travelling domestically, whereas 1,064,753 or 31.16 per cent were travelling internationally.

The busiest airport for the quarter remained Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos, with 1,683,375 passengers or 49.27 per cent of the total. This was followed by Abuja International Airport, which hosted 907,989 passengers, or 26.57 per cent of the total.

For domestic flights Murtala Muhammed airport had 898,896 passengers or 38.21 per cent of the total and Abuja had 701, 249 passengers or 29.81 per cent of the total. Port Harcourt had 274,186 passengers or 11.66 per cent of all passenger traffic, while Owerri Airport in Imo State had 75,356 passengers or 3.2 per cent of the total.

International passenger traffic was dominated by Lagos, with 784,479 passengers or 73.68 per cent of all internationally bound passengers. Abuja ranked second with 205,740 passengers or 19.42 per cent of the total.

Only Kano and Port Harcourt international airports had portions of the total of over one per cent, with 37,261 passengers or 3.5 per cent of the total flying through Kano and Port Harcourt with 26,314 passengers or 2.47 per cent of the international total.

International airports in Calabar, Ilorin, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maidugary, Minna and Katsina recorded no passengers travelling internationally in the first quarter of 2014, the report added. Agency report