Amidst low purchasing power, air passenger traffic dropped to 15.7m in 2024

Statistics of international and domestic passengers dropped marginally to 15,685,273 in 2024 from the 15.89m recorded in the previous year, 2023, amidst declining purchasing power and high airfares on both domestic and international flights, data from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shown. This represented 1.36 per cent against last year, as the executive […]

Statistics of international and domestic passengers dropped marginally to 15,685,273 in 2024 from the 15.89m recorded in the previous year, 2023, amidst declining purchasing power and high airfares on both domestic and international flights, data from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has shown.

This represented 1.36 per cent against last year, as the executive summary of international and domestic flight operations indicated.

It is also a significant reduction from 16.17m recorded in 2022 as the figure stagnates within 15m on account of low purchasing power. 

However, the figure indicated more Nigerians still travelled out of the country in search of greener pastures as the Japa syndrome continues to deplete local talents’ pools across various sectors of the economy.

• eTranzact International Posts N5bn Pre-Tax Profit In 2024
• NEPC trains 50 farmers on Pesticides Management to boost exports

The executive summary on international and domestic flight operations indicated that there were 2,018,948 inbound and 2,116,882 outbound passengers on international flights.

This implies that more people travelled out without returning following the japa wave. The international passenger still maintained an upward trend despite the high cost of tickets.

Recall that in 2023, 2.04 million Nigerians travelled out of the country, while inbound passengers were 1.80 million.

On the domestic scene, 15 airlines airlifted 11,549,443 comprising 5,727,700 inbound and 5,821,743 outbound passengers.

This was over 10 per cent reduction compared to 12,050, 144 total passenger traffic recorded in 2023 comprising 6,024,264 inbound passengers and 6,025,880 outbound passengers.

Despite the insecurity in the land, many Nigerians preferred to travel by road due to the high air fares on the domestic.

This was the sentiment shared by the President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Yinka Folami who, however, believed that the security situation has improved.

But more importantly, he said last year was a tough year which witnessed increase in fares, adding, “that can be a factor. It is probably also a factor of improved security.”

The General Secretary of Aviation Roundtable (ART), Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said people reduced domestic travels and chose to conduct businesses online because of the high cost of tickets.

“As inflation increased, people began to look at alternates, they began to use social media to do online purchases, that affected a lot of domestic travel,” he noted.

 

‘Air Peace’s London flight, Emirates’ return reduced int’l air fares’

On the international scene, Ohunayo noted that the introduction of Air Peace on the Lagos-London route and the return of Emirates were able to bring down fares marginally.

He added, “It also helped in increasing the number of passengers on the international routes and other airlines like Rwanda Air and Air Maroc etc had to adjust their fares with the introduction of Air Peace and with that there were more people who took advantage of that to travel.

Airlines recorded 1,320 cancelled flights, 38,061 delays in 2024

Meanwhile, both international and domestic airline operators recorded 1,320 cancelled flights and 38,061 delays in 2024.

In an executive summary on international and domestic flight operations for 2024 released by the NCAA, domestic airlines, with 15 operators, recorded 33,235 delayed flights, while international airlines, with 30 operators, had 4,426 delays.

Regarding cancellations, international airlines recorded 131 canceled flights, while domestic airlines had 1,189 cancellations.

Overall, the aviation authority said 70,543 flights were operated in the domestic space, while 14,359 flights were recorded in the international sector in 2024.

The data showed that among the 30 airlines that operated the international space, Delta Airline, Value Jet and Uganda Air recorded the highest number of delays.

The report said Value Jet (100 per cent) delayed all its four flights, Delta Airline (60 per cent) delayed 235 out of 390 operations and cancelled nine flights.

More so, Uganda Air recorded 96 delayed flights (57 per cent) out of 168 operated in the year under review.

On the contrary, Virgin Atlantic had the least number of delays in international flights, with the airline recording 26 delays out of 362 operations, representing 8 per cent and just one cancelled flight.

Other airlines with low records are United Airlines, with 18 delayed flights out of 171 operations (11 per cent) and Saudi Air with 19 delays, representing 16 per cent of 121 operations.

According to the NCAA, Air Peace had the highest number of flight delays in 2024.

The airline recorded 7,619 delayed flights out of 15,413 operations in the year.

Next on the list is United Airlines, with 4,559 delayed flights out of 7,794 operations.

Arik Air clinched third place with 5,027 as the total number of delayed flights out of 10,699 flights operated.

In terms of cancelled flights, the three flights with the highest records in 2024 were Air Peace (333), Arik Air (215), and Ibom Air (140).