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Airports record 57.55 million passengers in four years

By BusinessNews Staff on October 25, 2014

A total of 57,550,193 passengers used 22 Nigerian airports between 2010 and 2013, the latest 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 the 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 went up 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 it 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 under 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 passengers. The number increased in 2011 by 293,600 passengers or 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 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 is Akure airport in Ondo State, which carried just 6,640 passengers in 2010, making up 0.05 per cent of the total.

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

[Punch]

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