By Chinelo Obogo
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that a total of 15,225,627 travelers passed through Nigerian airports in 2021, a combined growth of 101.02 per cent in domestic and international travel.
The data, which was released yesterday, Wednesday, was provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and verified and validated by the NBS, showed that the total number of international passengers who passed through Nigerian airports was 2,219,146, as against 1,408,026 passengers in 2020. This represents 57.61 per cent growth rate. While in 2021, the total number of domestic passengers who passed through Nigerian airports were 13,006,481 as against 9,069,295 in 2020, which represents 43.41 per cent growth rate.
The number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 6,533,740, which was higher compared to 4,870,072 in 2020. Also, departure stood at 6,472,741 in 2021 compared to 4,199,223 in 2020. Similarly, the total number of international passengers who passed through Nigerian airports were 2,219,146 in 2021 as against 1,408,026 passengers in 2020. This represents 57.61 per cent growth rate. The number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 1,109,621, which was higher compared to 690,765 in 2020. Also, departure stood at 1,109,525 in 2021 compared to 717,261 in 2020.
The data showed that Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Owerri recorded the highest rate of traffic, while Katsina, Kaduna, Ibadan and Jos recorded the lowest traffic.
A total of 4,758,843 passengers passed through the domestic terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while 4,093,712 passengers passed through the domestic terminals of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. The domestic terminals of Port Hacourt International Airport had 900,728 passengers, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (545,749) and Akanu Ibiam International Airport (508,513).
Others are Owerri (583,464) Benin Airport (433,017) Margaret Ekpo Airport (197,998) Yola (175,699) Maiduguri (197,898), Ilorin (148,109) Akure (113,625), Sokoto (137,511) Kaduna (73,110), Jos (57,020), Ibadan (51,172) and Katsina (30,313).
For foreign travel, Lagos recorded the highest traffic, with 1,595,522 passengers, while Abuja came second with 565,062 passengers. Port Harcourt had 14,519 passengers, while Kano had 39,441, Enugu had 4,532 and Maiduguri had 68.