Only 1m Flyers Drive 15m Domestic Air Passenger Trips – Nwuba

Nigeria’s domestic aviation market remains heavily dependent on a narrow passenger base, with just about one million Nigerians accounting for the roughly 15 million passenger journeys recorded on domestic routes annually, the President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Nigeria, Dr Alex Nwuba, has said.

Nwuba, who is also the second vice President of the Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ASRTI), told LEADERSHIP that the domestic air travel market had remained largely stagnant at about 15 million passenger journeys yearly because air travel remained beyond the reach of a significant proportion of the population.

He said the industry could not achieve substantial growth without making air travel more affordable and expanding the number of Nigerians who regularly use domestic airlines.

“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 said.

Nwuba’s comments come against the backdrop of growing concerns over the competitiveness and sustainability of Nigeria’s domestic airline industry, after none of the country’s nine scheduled domestic airlines featured among Africa’s top 10 carriers in the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards.

Industry operators and experts have repeatedly pointed to high operating costs, weak passenger purchasing power, foreign exchange pressures and multiple taxes and charges as major constraints on the sector.

Nwuba said the industry’s difficulties were largely linked to an operating environment in which multiple government agencies impose charges on airlines, with the accumulated costs ultimately passed on to passengers through higher fares.

“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 said.

According to him, the narrow passenger base creates a difficult cycle for airlines. Operators need more passengers to spread their high fixed and operating costs, but expensive tickets discourage millions of potential travellers from flying.

Low passenger volumes, he added, constrain airline revenue growth and make it more difficult for operators to absorb cost shocks arising from foreign exchange movements, aircraft maintenance and other operational expenses.

Nwuba said reducing airfares through structural reforms could stimulate passenger traffic, broaden the aviation market and ultimately strengthen airline revenues by bringing more Nigerians into the air transport system.

He said a more affordable domestic aviation market would also facilitate greater movement for business, tourism, education, medical appointments and other economic activities.

Nwuba therefore called on the Federal Government to rationalise taxes and charges imposed on airlines and introduce targeted measures capable of reducing operating costs across the sector.

“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.

He warned that without meaningful intervention to address the industry’s cost structure, foreign exchange constraints and multiple charges, some airlines could be forced to scale back their operations.

The development, he said, could further restrict capacity and make it more difficult for the industry to expand beyond its current narrow passenger base.