A total of 3.5 million passengers passed through Nigerian airports in the first quarter of 2019. This is revealed in the latest report released by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
According to FAAN, the figure represents an increase of 76,397 passengers and 2.23 percent growth compared to the 3.43 million passengers recorded in the first quarter of 2018 with 54,000 aircraft movements.
Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that in 2018, international air passengers that departed the country rose by 13% up from 1.99 million in 2017.to 2.25 million in 2018.
Monthly Breakdown – The monthly breakdown showed that 1.42 million passengers comprising 789,883 arrivals and 633,069 departures in 18,653 aircraft movements were recorded in the month of January.
However, the traffic dropped In February, as 976,112 passengers comprising 462,447 arrivals and 513,665 departures were recorded. Note that tahe drop in Air Passengers traffic in February may be due to the general elections.
Lastly, in March 2019, the statistics rose as a total of 1.11 million passengers comprising of 556,297 arrivals and 554,220 departures in was recorded in March.
Domestic Travelers in Q1– FAAN’s report shows that about 2.56 million passengers traveled within the country, while 42,905 domestic flights were operated across the nation’s 22 airports during the period.
This shows a sign of rising traffic at Nigerian Airports when compared to the previous year. For domestic air travelers, domestic Aircraft movements increased by 11.2% in 2018 year-on-year.
International Travellers – A total of 951,128 passengers traveled into and out of the country (international) through the airports during the period under review. On the other hand, 11,095 international flights were operated across the nation’s airports during the period.
International air travelers are on the rise yet again – The 2018 full year report shows that a total of international aircrafts movements for 2018 increased by 38.8%, as against the 9.16% growth of 2017.
[Also Read: Gombe and Kebbi Airports close for business over N732m debts]
Lagos tops airports with highest passengers – Just like the 2018 air passengers traffic data indicated, the Q1 of 2019 has so far shown that Lagos State recorded the highest air passengers traffic in Nigeria. Lagos airport recorded 1.53 million passengers, comprising 860,218 on domestic routes and 674,153 on the international routes.
- The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja ranks second as it recorded 1.02 million passengers comprising 824,847 on domestic routes, while the international routes recorded 203,954 passengers.
- Port Harcourt International Airport recorded 271,948 passengers comprising 251,410 domestic passengers and 20,538 international.
- Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano recorded 322,659 passengers comprising 281,234 domestic and 41,425 international passengers.
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