₦airaland Forum

Only five airlines control 75% of air traffic in Nigeria – Rewane

The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, has said that out of the 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five of them control 75 per cent of domestic traffic in the country.

He said this on Thursday in Lagos at the 29th edition of the annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents with the theme: ‘Financing Aviation In Nigeria: Risks, Opportunities and Prospects.

Though Rewani didn’t mention the names of the airlines, recent statistics obtained from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority indicated that Air Peace, Arik Air, Ibom Air, United Nigeria and Aero Contractors had the highest number of passenger traffic in 2024.

Rewane also lamented that domestic passenger traffic had declined for the second straight year to 11.5million in 2024, while the air transport sector contracted by 0.81 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, showing the sixth consecutive quarterly decline.

According to him, out of Nigeria’s 32 airports, only 20 were considered viable in 2024, while 92 per cent to 96 per cent of traffic flows through just four airports.

He attributed some of these challenges to poor infrastructure in the industry.

Rewani explained further that Nigeria’s aviation sector lost $3.5 billion in revenue between 2020 and 2022.

He expressed worries that while the country continued to spend billions of naira on airport operations, the traffic had continued to decline, which was not commensurate with the airport operations expenditures.

He said: “We need very strong and effective regulation for safety; concessions and Public-Private Partnerships should be prioritised for airport upgrades to aid national fiscal sustainability and avoid inefficient operations. There should be investment in local maintenance, repair and overhaul hubs.

“Government should focus on policy and regulation, not running airlines or building airports directly and policy consistency is crucial for rebuilding trust with global investors and attracting global aviation capital.”

In another development, Airline operators in Nigeria also called on the Federal Government to create special windows for the operators, which would enable them to have easy access to foreign exchange at cheaper rates.

Dr. Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace, said that the airline faced a series of challenges, including infrastructure, multiple charges and paucity of foreign exchange, among others.

According to him, these aforementioned challenges limited the growth of indigenous airlines and contributed to their early deaths.

Onyema, who spoke as a member of a panel to discuss the theme of the conference, said that the Federal Government could create a special window through either the Central Bank of Nigeria or the African Development Bank.


Besides, Onyema decried that the nation’s airlines had integrity challenges due to the unpleasant experience of the past.

But, he explained that over time, the current operators had redeemed the image of the country by adhering strictly to contractual agreement and said this could only be sustained with support from the government.

He, however, lauded the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, for making dry lease of aircraft possible for the operators, after 12 years of subtle blacklisting by lessors.

He expressed that this would go a long way in easing business for the operators, while also contributing more meaningfully to the Gross Domestic Production of the nation’s economy.

He said, “As operators, we need some level of integrity to be able to get it right. Air Peace is where it is today because it has been able to show some level of financial integrity in its dealings.

“The government needs to come to the aid of the airlines by creating a special window for them where they can easily access foreign exchange at a cheaper rate. On our own too, the airlines should have financial discipline, while the government too can come in through the CBN and AfDB and other means to assist the airlines to remain in business.”

SmartPolician:
Of the 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five of them control 75 per cent of domestic traffic in the country.

Yet, state governors are racing to build more unproductive airports that will eventually become a burden on the viable ones because they want to show achievements and massage the ego of their people (our state get airport).

motymop:
It is an expensive business to enter And also the market size is small.

There aren't much travellers from Nigeria, you can actually check the daily traffic online and compare with some countries with almost similar population size like ours.

Go to any major airport in Nigeria and you won't see much people in the hall. I have been to airport in Nigeria where only 100 people were in the waiting hall.

Another stuff is that if 5 airlines control 75 percent of traffic that means jobs in that industry will be very competitive and it means, it is near impossible to progress in your career

Efuaye:
Reduce the cost of flying to increase patronage and thus maximise profits.

motymop:
It is an expensive business to enter And also the market size is small.

There aren't much travellers from Nigeria, you can actually check the daily traffic online and compare with some countries with almost similar population size like ours.

Go to any major airport in Nigeria and you won't see much people in the hall. I have been to airport in Nigeria where only 100 people were in the waiting hall.

Another stuff is that if 5 airlines control 75 percent of traffic that means jobs in that industry will be very competitive and it means, it is near impossible to progress in your career

SmartPolician:
Of the 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five of them control 75 per cent of domestic traffic in the country.

Yet, state governors are racing to build more unproductive airports that will eventually become a burden on the viable ones because they want to show achievements and massage the ego of their people (our state get airport).

motymop:
It is an expensive business to enter And also the market size is small.

There aren't much travellers from Nigeria, you can actually check the daily traffic online and compare with some countries with almost similar population size like ours.

Go to any major airport in Nigeria and you won't see much people in the hall. I have been to airport in Nigeria where only 100 people were in the waiting hall.

Another stuff is that if 5 airlines control 75 percent of traffic that means jobs in that industry will be very competitive and it means, it is near impossible to progress in your career

SmartPolician:
Of the 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five of them control 75 per cent of domestic traffic in the country.

Yet, state governors are racing to build more unproductive airports that will eventually become a burden on the viable ones because they want to show achievements and massage the ego of their people (our state get airport).

triple996:
Most of our so called international airports are nonsense.
These are the only four dominant airports:
Lagos airports (muritala Mohammed)
Abuja airports (nnamdi azikwe)
Kano airports(Aminu kano)
Port Harcourt airports


The rest 16 are manageable (economically viable)
Kaduna
Ibadon
Enugu
Sokoto
Maiduguri
Anambra
Ogun
Ebonyi
Etc


The rest are a huge mess and waste of money eg
-Yobe
-Ekiti
-All the remaining south-east airports (too close to each other without any traffic)

Efuaye:
Reduce the cost of flying to increase patronage and thus maximise profits.

Lazy9jaYouth:
Most of the built airports are Cargo Airports,
Again; more airport means more access of the domestic airline to the potential customer & more jobs to the state in which they were created. Take Anambra for example . . .

Lazy9jaYouth:
Most of the built airports are Cargo Airports,
Again; more airport means more access of the domestic airline to the potential customer & more jobs to the state in which they were created. Take Anambra for example . . .

Lazy9jaYouth:
Most of the built airports are Cargo Airports,
Again; more airport means more access of the domestic airline to the potential customer & more jobs to the state in which they were created. Take Anambra for example . . .

SmartPolician:
Of the 23 active domestic airlines in Nigeria, only five of them control 75 per cent of domestic traffic in the country.

Yet, state governors are racing to build more unproductive airports that will eventually become a burden on the viable ones because they want to show achievements and massage the ego of their people (our state get airport).

Sixty5:
I don't have 40 character I don't have 40 characters

aribisala0:
There is no connection between the two? Whether 1 airline or 250
What does that have to do with state governor building unproductive airports

What is the logic?