March 9, 2018

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says 3.6 million air passengers traveled to or from Nigerian airports in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The NBS said this in “ Air Transportation Data and Full Year 2017’’ report posted on its website.

The bureau said the figure grew by 4.89 per cent year-on-year and declined by 0.56 per cent quarter-on-quarters.

It stated that the fourth quarter saw steady growth in the number of both domestic and international passengers who travelled to or from Nigerian airports by 6.46 per cent and 1.01 per cent respectively.

The report stated that for the first time of the year, more arrivals were recorded than departures for both domestic and international travelers in the quarter under review.

It stated that arrivals and departures in all Nigerian airports in the reviewing quarter were 1.86 million and 1.30 million passengers respectively.

The report said that Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Owerri, and Kano airports served more than 92 per cent of total passengers in the fourth quarter.

The report noted that a total of 57,484 aircraft arrived at or departed from Nigerian airports in the quarter, among which 47,223 were domestic aircraft and 10,261 were international aircraft.

The report stated the last quarter of 2017 recorded 33,425,743 Kilogrammes of cargo movement at the international airports.

It, however, said that the figure declined by 41.75 per cent year-on-year and by 25.53 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

The report stated that the volume of cargo movement in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Enugu, and Kano declined sharply by 40.13 per cent, 41.67 per cent, 79.73 per cent, 83.88 per cent and 10.80 per cent year-on-year in the quarter under review.

It stated that the weight of mail that moved through Lagos was 363,228 kilogrammes, which increased by 255.23 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

According to the report, mail movement through Abuja international airport grew by 15.11 per cent year-on-year.