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Air passenger traffic rises by 61.11% in seven years
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Murtala Muhammed airport
Nigeria’s air passenger traffic has been having a good turn for the better for the past seven years as there is a record growth of about 61.11 per cent.
This, according to managing director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Richard Aisuebeogun is an indication that travelling by air continues to grow.
Within the last seven years (2001 – 2007) about 51.34 million passengers went through the various airports in the country.
Though, there is an appreciable increase in passenger traffic flow, experts are of the view that airlines operating in the country need to do more.
They are of the view that going by the number of people in the country (140 million), there should be at least air passenger traffic accounting for about 20 per cent of the population.
A frequent traveller, James Adeyemi stated that airlines are not doing enough to groom people to travel by air.
“You hardly see their adverts or hear their jingles on radio, yet they hope people will fly, they should buckle up”.
Adeyemi who works with an ICT firm narrated how as a young graduate, he flew Nigeria Airways on rebate when he was going for his national youth service.
For now, only Virgin Nigeria Airways has such facility for Corpers, while some other airlines give 50 per cent rebate to students with identity cards.
He however suggested that the airlines should let students know that they have special fares for them.
Another respondent, Oluchi Okonkwo, a banker also noted that airlines have not encouraged air travellers as they have nothing to show for loyalty.
The banker urged them to introduce loyalty programme that will encourage passengers to continue to travel by air.
Meanwhile, despite the harsh conditions under which it has to operate, FAAN has contributed about N87 billion to the Nigerian economy from 2001 to 2007.
The agency it was said, could have generated more funds if its debtors had paid, as well as gear efforts towards raising revenue from the non-aeronautical channels in the industry.
In a paper presented recently by the managing director of FAAN, Richard Aisuebeogun at a forum for aviation stakeholders, more revenue would have been generated but for revocation of licenses of some airlines.
Aside, the commencement of the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) at the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed airport, Lagos has affected the agency.
The crippling indebtedness of contractors and rising debt profile of government agencies and airlines to FAAN has also contributed to the shortfall in revenue generation.
Records show that within the seven years under review, about 80 per cent of what was generated came from the aeronautical.
However, there is a great leap of about 100 per cent from what was generated in 2001 in comparison to 2007 as the agency generated N7.14 billion in 2001 and N15.69 billion in 2007.
Total of what was generated on aeronautical within the seven years stood at N68.69billion whereas non-aeronautical was N17.86bn.
A breakdown of the record shows that in 2001, N5.76bn was generated from aeronautical, while N1.38bn was generated from non-aeronautical.
For 2002, N7.18bn was generated, with non-aeronautical making N1.23bn, while in 2003, aeronautical accounts for N9.30bn and N1.67bn from non-aeronautical.
In 2004, N10.34bn was contributed, while N3.49bn was made from non-aeronautical whereas, in 2005, N11.27bn was contributed from aeronautical with a generation of N3.73bn from non-aeronautical.
In 2006, N12.14bn was contributed from aeronautical with N3.37bn recorded from non-aeronautical, while in 2007, N12.70bn was raised from aeronautical and N2.99bn was from non-aeronautical.
This means that if not for passenger movement and mails, the agency would not have been able to achieve up to what was generated.
Airports administration worldwide are shifting focus to generating funds from the non-aeronautical channels as they canvass for a 50-50 per cent from the two sources.
This may be the reason why FAAN and its present management under Aisuebeogun aim to invite investors to partner the agency.
Aisuebeogun said, “The scope for growth is vast, especially in the non-aeronautical sector. Most airports worldwide generate up to 50 per cent of their revenue from non-aero sources”.
Within the last seven years (2001 – 2007) about 51.34 million passengers went through the various airports in the country.
Though, there is an appreciable increase in passenger traffic flow, experts are of the view that airlines operating in the country need to do more.
They are of the view that going by the number of people in the country (140 million), there should be at least air passenger traffic accounting for about 20 per cent of the population.
A frequent traveller, James Adeyemi stated that airlines are not doing enough to groom people to travel by air.
“You hardly see their adverts or hear their jingles on radio, yet they hope people will fly, they should buckle up”.
Adeyemi who works with an ICT firm narrated how as a young graduate, he flew Nigeria Airways on rebate when he was going for his national youth service.
For now, only Virgin Nigeria Airways has such facility for Corpers, while some other airlines give 50 per cent rebate to students with identity cards.
He however suggested that the airlines should let students know that they have special fares for them.
Another respondent, Oluchi Okonkwo, a banker also noted that airlines have not encouraged air travellers as they have nothing to show for loyalty.
The banker urged them to introduce loyalty programme that will encourage passengers to continue to travel by air.
Meanwhile, despite the harsh conditions under which it has to operate, FAAN has contributed about N87 billion to the Nigerian economy from 2001 to 2007.
The agency it was said, could have generated more funds if its debtors had paid, as well as gear efforts towards raising revenue from the non-aeronautical channels in the industry.
In a paper presented recently by the managing director of FAAN, Richard Aisuebeogun at a forum for aviation stakeholders, more revenue would have been generated but for revocation of licenses of some airlines.
Aside, the commencement of the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) at the new domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed airport, Lagos has affected the agency.
The crippling indebtedness of contractors and rising debt profile of government agencies and airlines to FAAN has also contributed to the shortfall in revenue generation.
Records show that within the seven years under review, about 80 per cent of what was generated came from the aeronautical.
However, there is a great leap of about 100 per cent from what was generated in 2001 in comparison to 2007 as the agency generated N7.14 billion in 2001 and N15.69 billion in 2007.
Total of what was generated on aeronautical within the seven years stood at N68.69billion whereas non-aeronautical was N17.86bn.
A breakdown of the record shows that in 2001, N5.76bn was generated from aeronautical, while N1.38bn was generated from non-aeronautical.
For 2002, N7.18bn was generated, with non-aeronautical making N1.23bn, while in 2003, aeronautical accounts for N9.30bn and N1.67bn from non-aeronautical.
In 2004, N10.34bn was contributed, while N3.49bn was made from non-aeronautical whereas, in 2005, N11.27bn was contributed from aeronautical with a generation of N3.73bn from non-aeronautical.
In 2006, N12.14bn was contributed from aeronautical with N3.37bn recorded from non-aeronautical, while in 2007, N12.70bn was raised from aeronautical and N2.99bn was from non-aeronautical.
This means that if not for passenger movement and mails, the agency would not have been able to achieve up to what was generated.
Airports administration worldwide are shifting focus to generating funds from the non-aeronautical channels as they canvass for a 50-50 per cent from the two sources.
This may be the reason why FAAN and its present management under Aisuebeogun aim to invite investors to partner the agency.
Aisuebeogun said, “The scope for growth is vast, especially in the non-aeronautical sector. Most airports worldwide generate up to 50 per cent of their revenue from non-aero sources”.
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