Air passenger traffic crashes in Nigeria
- The number of passengers who used Nigerian airports in 2017 so far shows a huge drop
- The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released data that shows the crash on Thursday, June 1
- This was partly due to the closure of the Abuja airport for maintenance work
According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the total number of passengers who passed through Nigerian airports in the first quarter of 2017 was 2,505,612.
That figure shows a 31.3% decrease when compared to the previous quarter and 34.5% drop when compared to the same quarter of 2016.
The crash which was was revealed in the Air Transportation Data Q1 2017 released by NBS on Thursday, June 1, shows a problem.
Both passenger numbers and aircraft movement declined in 2017 partly due to the Abuja Airport closure for maintenance work and also other factors.
Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos remained the busiest domestic airport in the first quarter of 2017, accounting for 698,165 domestic passengers, or 41.4 percent of the total.
This was followed by Abuja Airport which accounted for 499,149 passengers, or 29.6 percent of the total, while Port Harcourt was the third busiest, accounting for 189,843, or 11.3 percent of the total.
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Surprisingly the amount of mail moved through the airports increased dramatically by almost ten times higher relative to the first quarter of 2016, compensating the sector for the decline in passenger numbers, and led to slight growth of the air transport sector in real terms by 1.5 percent.
“In the first quarter of 2017, the total number of passengers to pass through Nigerian airports was 2,505,612. Of these, 67.3 percent were domestic passengers, travelling within Nigeria, and the rest were international, entering or leaving Nigeria. This represents a considerable drop both compared to the previous quarter (of 31.3 percent) and compared to the same quarter of the previous year (of 34.5 percent, based on revised 2016 Q1 figures)," the report said.
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Legit.ng earlier reported that the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has granted permission to the Lagos state government to embark upon a total reconstruction of the international airport road from Oshodi.
In a press statement signed on Wednesday, May 31 by the secretary to the Lagos state government, Mr Tunji Bello, the state governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode who made the disclosure, commended the Osinbajo for his statesman like approach to issues and for fast tracking the process.
Watch a Legit.ng video of when the Abuja airport was closed for repairs:
Source: Legit.ng
