International Air Travel Rises By 14.8% As Domestic Travel Slumps 14%

Amid rising migration from Nigeria to other countries, popularly referred to as Japa, international passenger traffic increased by 14.8 per cent between 2022 and 2024, according to data released by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The data, however, revealed a contrasting trend in local air travel, as domestic passenger traffic declined sharply by 14% over the same period.

FAAN figures showed that total domestic passenger movements dropped from 14.52 million in 2022 to 12.54 million in 2024.

Specifically, domestic traffic decreased from 14,519,565 passengers in 2022 to 13,409,701 in 2023, before further declining to 12,543,153 in 2024.

The report indicated that the decline represented a 7.6 per cent decrease between 2022 and 2023, followed by a 6.4 per cent drop between 2023 and 2024. As a result, domestic passenger movements fell to their lowest level in three years.

In contrast, international passenger traffic continued an upward trajectory, rising from 3,752,746 in 2022 to 4,070,833 in 2023 and further to 4,334,665 in 2024. This represented an 8.4 per cent increase between 2022 and 2023, and a further 6.4 per cent growth between 2023 and 2024.

While international terminals processed record numbers of travellers, the domestic aviation market continued to contract, underscoring a widening gap in Nigeria’s air transport sector.

Meanwhile, FAAN data also showed that Lagos airports accounted for over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s total air cargo movement between 2022 and 2024.

The data, covering Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu airports, revealed that despite fluctuations in national air cargo volumes, Lagos remained the backbone of import handling and increasingly emerged as the engine of export growth.

In 2022, Nigeria recorded a total air cargo movement of 141,234,645 kilogrammes, the strongest performance within the three years under review. Imports accounted for 112,304,549.41kg, while exports stood at 28,930,095.59kg, highlighting the country’s long-standing reliance on inbound cargo flows.

Lagos alone processed 115,080,958.76kg, representing well over 80 per cent of national air cargo movement. Of this figure, imports accounted for 89,485,156.76kg, while exports stood at 25,595,813 kg. Port Harcourt handled 10,171,225.63kg, while Kano processed 10,014,384.14kg during the period.

Experts have argued that the latest FAAN figures expose a deepening divide within Nigeria’s aviation sector. They contend that the soaring cost of domestic airfares is increasingly pricing out the middle class, while the rise in international travel reflects a resilient upper class as well as growing migration and cross-border trade.

Analysts also note that the data reaffirm the struggles of Nigerian airlines, many of which are grappling with shrinking routes and declining passenger volumes amid a depreciating tax base and what they describe as unfriendly aviation policies.

Speaking recently at the 2025 League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) conference, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, disclosed that out of 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five control about 75 per cent of local air traffic.

Rewane expressed concern that Nigeria continues to spend billions of naira on airport operations, even as air traffic volumes decline, noting that the trend is not commensurate with the scale of airport expenditure.

According to him, Nigeria has 32 airports, but only 20 were considered viable in 2024, while between 92 and 96 per cent of air traffic flows through just four airports. He added that due to poor infrastructure, Nigeria’s aviation sector lost an estimated $3.5 billion in revenue between 2020 and 2022.

Similarly, Charles Grant, the chief financial officer of Aero Contractors, stated that the sector is underperforming its potential, with domestic passenger numbers declining by approximately three million since 2022, despite rising travel demand.

Grant attributed the decline to multiple challenges, including fiscal charges, high operating costs and regulatory bottlenecks. He noted that, although demand for air travel remains strong in Nigeria, local airlines are struggling to compete with foreign carriers that have established viable business models centred on Nigerian traffic.

He raised these concerns during his presentation at the recent Civil Aviation Cost Recovery and Revenue Optimisation Stakeholders’ Retreat in Lagos.