No Nigerian airline made $1m profit, Onyema declares

The Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has said no Nigerian airline has made $1 million in annual profit, despite the huge sums generated within the aviation industry.

Onyema, who spoke at the 30th anniversary conference of the League of Aviation Correspondents in Lagos on Thursday, said the financial realities facing Nigerian carriers were far removed from the perception that airlines were making enormous profits from rising airfares.

The conference, themed “Towards a Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands with Sector Growth,” brought together government officials, airline operators, regulators, investors and aviation journalists to examine the future of the industry.

Onyema said, “No airline made $1m in profit. Yes, if Air Peace is the biggest carrier in revenue as well, and did not make $1m in 2025, then I don’t think there is any other airline that may make such money.”

His comments came amid persistent complaints from passengers over high airfares and multiple aviation taxes, with airlines often bearing the blame for ticket prices that have risen sharply in recent times.

The Air Peace chairman argued that airlines operate under a crushing cost structure, with taxes, regulatory charges, airport fees, fuel and other expenses eating deeply into their revenues.

He said the government should not view airlines primarily as a source of direct revenue, stressing that aviation generates greater economic benefits indirectly through tourism, trade, employment and connectivity.

Onyema said, “You don’t use airlines per se to raise revenue for the nation. Airlines are not used to raise revenue directly, but indirectly. They energise the ecosystem for the government to make money through tourism, economic integration and so many other things.”

According to industry data cited at the conference, aviation contributes about $2.5bn annually to Nigeria’s GDP and supports more than 217,000 jobs. Yet operators contend that the sector remains one of the most expensive environments in which to run an airline.

Onyema stressed that Nigerian carriers contend with dozens of taxes and fees imposed by aviation and government agencies.

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He added that six of these are directly incorporated into tickets, including passenger service charges, terminal facility charges, ticket sales charges, excess baggage charges and security levies.

Onyema called for the scrapping of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and Cargo Sales Charge, arguing that a fixed unit charge would be more sustainable for airlines already battling high fuel and operating costs.

He also backed the harmonisation of aviation taxes and levies to eliminate duplication and double taxation.

The chairman’s position was reinforced by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services chairman, Olalekan Babalakin, who was represented by the Acting Chief Operating Officer of the firm, Remi Jibodu. He said the experience of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 demonstrated what private capital could achieve when the government and investors operate within a predictable framework.

Jibodu said, “Government revenue and industry growth should not be viewed as competing objectives. A thriving aviation industry ultimately creates a stronger and more sustainable revenue base for the government.”

He urged the government to provide policy consistency, contractual certainty and an environment capable of attracting long-term private investment into airport infrastructure.

The airline boss added that the solution was straightforward: government must look beyond what aviation can contribute to its coffers today and focus on what can make the industry bigger, stronger and more profitable tomorrow.

“It is profitability that will sustain their existence and also sustain and grow air travel in Nigeria,” he said.

Chairman of the LAAC, Idris Suleiman, also called for deeper consultation between government, aviation agencies, airlines, airport operators, labour and investors before major fiscal or regulatory decisions are taken.

Opening the conference, the League said the central question was not whether the government should generate revenue from aviation, but “how much revenue can the sector reasonably bear without undermining its capacity to grow.”