High Costs, Weak Demand Keep Nigerian Airlines Out Of Africa’s Top 10

Nigeria’s nine scheduled airlines failed to make Africa’s top 10 in the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards, as high operating costs and weak passenger demand continue to strain the ability of domestic carriers to sustain operations and expand their networks.

Aviation sector experts who spoke with LEADERSHIP said Nigerian airlines are grappling with rising operating expenses, weak passenger demand and shrinking operational capacity, threatening their ability to maintain flight services and expand route networks.

They said the absence of Nigerian carriers from the continental ranking highlights some of the structural challenges confronting the domestic aviation industry, including high aviation fuel prices, foreign exchange constraints, expensive aircraft maintenance, multiple industry charges and declining consumer purchasing power.

According to the experts, the combination of high airfares and weak passenger demand is creating a difficult cycle for local airlines. While operators need higher passenger volumes to generate sufficient revenue, expensive tickets limit the number of Nigerians able to afford air travel.

They warned that the pressure could trigger further reductions in flight operations, leaving passengers with fewer travel options while increasing the cost and uncertainty of business travel across the country.

Nigeria has nine scheduled domestic airlines: Arik Air, Air Peace, Overland Airways, Max Air, Aero Contractors, Ibom Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Green Africa Airways and ValueJet.

None of them featured among the top 10 airlines in Africa in the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Ethiopian Airlines was named Africa’s Best Airline at the World Airline Awards for the ninth consecutive year. It also won the awards for Best Business Class in Africa and Best Economy Class Onboard Catering in Africa.

The other nine airlines recognised in the African category were EgyptAir, Air Mauritius, Royal Air Maroc, RwandAir, South African Airways, Kenya Airways, FlySafair, Fastjet and LIFT.

Skytrax said its rankings were based on a global customer satisfaction survey conducted by the UK-based aviation consultancy, with airlines assessed across various aspects of the passenger experience.

Skytrax Chief Executive Officer Edward Plaisted said passenger service quality continued to improve despite the difficult operating environment facing the global aviation industry.

How the Skytrax Rankings Work

The World Airline rankings are based on passenger surveys involving travellers from more than 100 nationalities. They are not an audit of aircraft or technical service standards.

An airline’s position therefore depends on the number of passengers who rate it and how they assess their experience, including cabin comfort, catering and staff service.

Ethiopian Airlines, which has been named Africa’s best airline for nine consecutive years, as well as other top-ranked carriers such as EgyptAir, Air Mauritius and Royal Air Maroc, are established operators with extensive international networks.

By contrast, most of Nigeria’s scheduled airlines are primarily domestic operators, limiting their exposure to the international passenger pool that participates in the Skytrax survey.

While the awards focus on passenger experience, aviation stakeholders said Nigeria’s absence from the continental top 10 also provides an opportunity to examine the cost and demand constraints affecting local carriers.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Nigeria and Second Vice President of the Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ASRTI), Dr Alex Nwuba, said Nigerian airlines might have little choice but to scale back operations as rising costs, foreign exchange challenges and multiple industry charges continue to undermine their financial sustainability.

According to him, operators must restructure their businesses to survive, but safety remains non-negotiable under the strict oversight of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“The airline operators have to restructure their business to ensure that they can manage the cost of doing business, but one thing is certain: they will never cut corners because the NCAA is on top of them every second watching to see what they are doing,” Nwuba said.

He argued that many of the industry’s challenges were consequences of an operating environment in which multiple agencies impose charges that ultimately increase the cost of air travel.

“The government needs to restructure the entire industry. There are too many people with their hands in the pot, and they are free to charge whatever they like. Those costs are eventually passed on to the flying public,” he added.

The financial strain also affects the areas passengers directly experience. Aircraft availability, schedule reliability and investment in customer service can become more difficult to sustain when airlines face challenges funding maintenance and accessing foreign exchange.

Nwuba said Nigeria’s domestic aviation market had remained largely stagnant at about 15 million passenger journeys annually, with air travel still beyond the reach of a significant proportion of the population.

“These 15 million passenger trips we keep talking about are really generated by about one million people. It is the same group of people flying year after year. We will not move beyond that number until flying becomes more affordable and more Nigerians can participate,” he explained.

His assessment points to a structural challenge in the domestic aviation market: airlines need more passengers to spread their high operating costs, while expensive tickets prevent a larger proportion of Nigerians from flying.

The resulting low passenger penetration constrains revenue growth, limits airlines’ ability to improve capacity and makes it harder for operators to absorb unexpected costs, including foreign exchange movements and maintenance expenses.

Nwuba said reducing airfares through industry-wide reforms could stimulate passenger traffic, broaden the market and create opportunities for airlines to generate stronger revenues from a larger customer base.

A more affordable domestic air transport system, he added, would also enable more Nigerians to travel for business, tourism, education, medical appointments and other economic activities.

The pressure on airline finances is also affecting fleet availability, with some operators struggling to return aircraft undergoing maintenance to commercial service.

Nwuba said some airlines had sizeable fleets on paper but operated only a fraction of their aircraft because of difficulties accessing the funds and foreign exchange required for maintenance.

“What will happen eventually is that, in order to survive, airlines will have to cut their operations. You already see airlines with 20 aircraft but only six or 10 are operational because they need funds and foreign exchange to bring others back from maintenance,” he said.

“There will be actual shrinkage by airlines. Some will voluntarily reduce operations because costs have become unsustainable.”

The distinction between an airline’s total fleet and the number of aircraft actually available for commercial operations is critical to understanding the industry’s capacity challenges.

When aircraft remain grounded for extended periods, airlines have fewer resources to maintain existing schedules, introduce new routes or increase frequencies on high-demand corridors.

Operators may respond by consolidating flights, reducing frequencies or cancelling services, leaving passengers with fewer travel options and less flexibility when making business and personal travel arrangements.

For businesses, the consequences extend beyond ticket costs. Flight disruptions can result in missed meetings, delayed transactions, postponed inspections, disrupted supply arrangements and additional expenses for accommodation, ground transportation and administration.

Corporate travellers operating on tight schedules may also lose productive working hours when forced to wait for alternative flights or travel by road.

Companies with operations across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu and other commercial centres could face higher travel costs and reduced efficiency if direct connections become less frequent or reliable.

Nwuba called on the federal government to rationalise taxes and charges imposed on airlines and consider targeted support measures to reduce operating costs.

“Costs must be brought down through structural adjustment in the industry. Government has a role to play. Around the world, governments provide different forms of support to strategic sectors, and aviation should not be an exception,” he said.

Also speaking, retired Nigeria Airways pilot and aviation expert Frank Oruye attributed much of the industry’s difficulties to weak consumer purchasing power, noting that many Nigerians could no longer afford air travel.

“The airlines can only survive if passengers are there. But salaries are not going up, companies are struggling and many families no longer have the disposable income to choose flying over other means of transport,” he said.

Oruye said airlines were caught between rising operating expenses and insufficient passenger volumes, with aircraft financing, maintenance, insurance, aviation fuel, personnel and airport charges continuing to accumulate regardless of passenger demand.

He noted that while major routes such as Lagos-Abuja continued to attract relatively strong traffic, several state routes remained commercially challenging because passenger numbers were often insufficient to cover operating costs.

“It is a very tough time. Airlines schedule flights, but sometimes the number of passengers is not enough to cover the cost of operations. That is why many routes are struggling,” he said.

The retired pilot argued that reduced or irregular air services could force executives, technical personnel, consultants and other professionals to rely more heavily on road transport, increasing travel time and potentially exposing them to additional security concerns.

Oruye said worsening insecurity had also failed to significantly boost domestic air travel because affordability remained a major constraint for many Nigerians.

“Insecurity should ordinarily push more people to travel by air, but the reality is that people have to prioritise other household expenses because the money is not there,” he said.