Nigerian airports record 6.4m passengers in six months

A total of 6,420,820 passengers travelled through domestic and international airports in Nigeria between January and June 2021, a report by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has shown.

The Passengers’ Traffic Statistics Report by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) indicates that the figure comprised 5,513,098 domestic passengers and 907,722 international travellers.

The figure represents a 50.5 per cent increase over 4,267,409 recorded in the same period in 2020.

According to the report, in the first half of the year, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos processed the highest number of international travellers with 670,938 passengers, followed by Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja with 225,985.

NAIA Abuja, however, topped the chart for domestic air travellers with 1,974,249 passengers, closely followed by Lagos airport with 1,786,236. Others are Port Harcourt 377,679 passengers; Enugu 231,669; Kano 225,870.

The report indicates that Lagos and Abuja airports alone accounted for 3,760,485 out of a total of 5,513,098 or 68.2 per cent of all domestic arrivals and departures. Both airports also accounted for 896,923 out of a total of 907,722 or 98.8 per cent of all international passengers.

Aminu Kano International Airport came a distant third with only 10,119 international passengers in the first half of the year.

On cargo, the five major international airports in Lagos, Enugu, Abuja Kano and Port Harcourt handled a total of 126.4 million kilogrammes of cargo between January and June this year, about 106 per cent increase from the 61.2 million recorded within the same period in 2020.

Lagos alone accounted for the lion share of 113.9 million kilogrammes or over 90 per cent of the total cargo handled at the five international airports.