The Aviation industry contributed N198.6bn to Nigeria’s economy in 2019, National Bureau of Statistics reveals.
There are however concerns that the same feat would not be reached this year as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic which has affected the aviation industry.
Prior to 2019, the Aviation Industry contributed N149.35 billion to the country’s gross domestic product in 2018, representing 0.12%, but in 2019, the figure increased due to political activities in Nigeria. Nigeria held its elections last year.
Between 2018 and 2019, domestic airlines were busy due to political campaigns, which were rampant across the country. Also, according to the Managing Partner, Aglow Aviation Support Services, Tayo Ojuri, government stability after the election and increased Foreign Direct Investment as well as stable foreign exchange impacted positively on the performance of the Aviation industry.
While revealing routes that were growth drivers, Ojuri said that “We had stable elections in 2019 and a seamless handover, and then from the economic perspective, there was a drive towards capital expenditure in November and December, which ensured there was much traffic between the triangular routes of Lagos-Abuja-Port Harcourt.
“The other thing that drove that growth was secondary airport traffic in Benin, Asaba, Owerri, Akure and Kaduna airports, among others.
They are traffic that is not driven by government patronage but by business and family visits.”
However, due to the travel ban, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had projected that in 2020, global revenue losses for the passenger business would be between $63 billion and $113 billion.
The initial figure was placed at $29.3 billion. Also, airline share prices have fallen nearly by 25% since the outbreak began.
