Nigeria hits 18.8 million flights, ranks Africa’s fourth-largest market

Nigeria’s aviation market ranked fourth-largest in Africa in 2025, with more than 18.8 million domestic and international passenger movements recorded during the year, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said.

FAAN’s Managing Director, Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, disclosed this at the Airports Council International (ACI) Africa Regional Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Abuja.

The conference, hosted by FAAN from 19 to 25 September, brought together airport operators, aviation regulators, policymakers and industry stakeholders under the theme, “Next-Gen Airports: Driving Performance and Resilience.”

Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku said the growth in Nigeria’s aviation market was part of a wider recovery in African air transport. Still, she noted that significant gaps remained between the continent’s current traffic levels and its potential.

Nigeria’s growing capacity

The FAAN managing director also cited recent growth in scheduled airline capacity in Nigeria.

According to data from aviation analytics company OAG, Nigerian airlines and carriers serving the country scheduled about 1.19 million departing seats in September 2026, representing a 37.4 per cent increase from 864,100 seats recorded in September 2025.

OAG said Nigeria recorded the fastest percentage growth among Africa’s 10 largest country markets during the period.

The data also showed that Lagos recorded the fastest growth among Africa’s 10 largest airports, with scheduled capacity increasing by 24.1 per cent year-on-year to about 470,000 seats in September.

Nigeria’s domestic scheduled capacity also increased by 44.8 per cent year-on-year to about 877,000 seats, according to OAG.

Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku attributed the increase in capacity to recent developments in the aviation sector, including currency reforms, new aircraft leasing arrangements and increased confidence among airlines.

She explained that the growth in Nigeria was occurring against the backdrop of increased passenger demand across Africa.

She cited International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures showing that international passenger demand for African airlines increased by 6.4 per cent year-on-year in July 2026, adding that the increase was above the global trend recorded during the period.

“While global international demand actually declined by 0.1 per cent during the same period, Africa was expanding,” she said.

She said the overall passenger demand across Africa increased by 5.2 per cent during the period.

Despite the growth, she said Africa still accounted for only about 1 per cent of global air traffic, even though it is home to about 18 per cent of the world’s population.

In Nigeria, she said, more than 220 million people generate about 19.5 million passenger movements annually across 28 airports.

“The potential is vast, but the gap between where we are and where we could be remains substantial.”

Airport infrastructure

Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku said FAAN had undertaken a number of projects aimed at improving airport infrastructure and passenger experience since 2023.

She listed runway rehabilitation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, terminal refurbishment, and airfield lighting upgrades among the projects.

She said the projects were carried out while flight operations continued.

She also listed the establishment of a Passenger Experience Hub, deployment of automated e-passport gates, improvements in check-in processes and the use of passenger data analytics as part of the authority’s efforts to improve airport services.

She added that FAAN obtained ISO 9001:2015 certification for quality management and ISO 14001:2015 certification for environmental management in January 2026.

Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku also said more than 3,500 FAAN personnel had been trained and certified through programmes by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and ACI.

She noted that the authority had also strengthened its Directorate of Cargo Development Services to support regional trade.

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Challenges remain

Despite the growth in passenger numbers and airline capacity, Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku identified high operating costs, infrastructure gaps and limited access to capital as challenges facing African aviation.

She said addressing those challenges would require airports to become more financially sustainable while investing in technology, infrastructure, human capital and operational resilience.

She identified five areas she said would be critical to developing resilient airport infrastructure across Africa: financial sustainability, intelligent infrastructure, operational resilience, human capital development, and strategic partnerships.

She also called for greater use of regional initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market to support connectivity and trade.

Mrs Onabanjo-Kuku urged African governments and financial institutions to establish predictable and commercially sustainable frameworks for airport infrastructure investment.

“I call upon governments across Africa to establish predictable, long-term, and commercially disciplined frameworks for airport infrastructure investment,” she said.

FAAN MD highlighted that clearer mandates and greater commercial autonomy would enable airport operators to invest in infrastructure and improve services as demand for air travel increases.