Nigeria’s Aviation Reforms Attract New Routes, Aircraft, Crash Airfares – Keyamo

By EJIKE EJIKE And AUSTINE VALENTINA, Abuja

Minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, said reforms and investments by the present government were beginning to transform Nigeria’s aviation sector, with new routes, increased aircraft capacity, stronger international interest in the country and a crash of airfares

According to him, the upgrade of airport and aviation infrastructure across the country remains one of the most visible aspects of the administration’s intervention.

He specifically pointed to ongoing developments at airports across the country, including Lagos and Kano, saying the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had continued to implement major infrastructure projects.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed, and he has shown it, to the upgrade of aviation infrastructure generally, not just the airport, but aviation infrastructure generally,” Keyamo said.

Keyamo spoke in Abuja at the 2026 Airport Council International (ACI) Africa Regional Conference and Exhibition, where Nigeria is hosting aviation stakeholders from across the continent.

He said the government’s infrastructure investments were aimed at positioning Nigeria as an aviation hub not only in Africa but globally.

Beyond physical infrastructure, the minister said the administration’s policies had opened the Nigerian aviation market to greater international interest.

He said the policies had led to the emergence of new routes and the entry of additional aircraft into the country, developments he described as previously difficult to achieve.

Keyamo also said Nigeria’s aviation safety and regulatory performance had improved significantly, noting that the country’s score had risen from 49.5 to 75.5.

The minister further linked increased airline competition to the availability of aircraft and said competition was beginning to affect airfares.

According to him, ticket prices have declined from the levels recorded in December and January, although he acknowledged that the sector had not yet reached its desired destination.

“Tickets are coming down. They are not what they were in January, in December. They have come down. It’s because of competition,” Keyamo said.

Also speaking, the chairman of the FAAN Governing Board, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said the major takeaway from the conference should be improved interconnectivity across Africa.

Ganduje said the continent’s aviation network remained fragmented, making travel between African countries unnecessarily difficult.

In her welcome address, the managing director/chief executive of FAAN and vice president of ACI Africa, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, said Africa’s aviation sector was experiencing significant growth despite persistent structural challenges.

Kuku cited International Air Transport Association (IATA) data showing that African airlines recorded a 6.4 per cent year-on-year increase in international passenger demand in July 2026.

She said this compared with a 0.1 per cent decline in global international passenger demand during the same period.

Africa’s overall passenger demand, she said, grew by 5.2 per cent, placing the continent among the fastest-growing aviation regions.

Nigeria, according to Kuku, had become Africa’s fourth-largest aviation market, recording more than 18.8 million domestic and international passengers in 2025, representing an 11.9 per cent year-on-year increase.