Like mushrooms in yam seasons, airport building is becoming a route catching the attraction of state government across Nigeria, even as statistics are clear that the gateways are far from being a revenue-yielding enterprise for the moment; reports Aviation Editor, GBOYEGA ADEOYE.
As of April 1, 2025, Zamfara and Abia states joined the league of Nigerian states which believe that part of quality service delivery for their citizens is to bequeath an airport. The two states are actively constructing new airports, with Zamfara’s Gusau International Airport project flagged off in June 2024 and Abia’s airport project breaking ground in December 2024.
Governor Dauda Lawal flagged off the construction of Gusau International Airport in June 2024, managed by Triacta Nigeria Limited and JBI Tech Consult while Governor Alex Otti flagged off the construction of the proposed Abia Airport in December 2024.
According to Otti, he is aiming to boost economic activities and position Abia State as a key hub in West Africa
Zamfara and Abia did not just pole-vault into the project but are taking cue from others like: Ogun, Ekiti, Borno, Anambra, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Osun and other states whose governors seemingly see airport building more from the perspective of competition than for economic gains.
Aside from Ogun which location, some industry experts see as strategic for its proximity to the highly congested Lagos Murtala Mohammed International Airport, others may have to tarry for a long time to stand, in view of others before them which still wobble so abysmally despite several years in existence.
According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), of the 22 existing federal government-owned airports in the country, only three can pass economic viability test.
FAAN is responsible for the management of Nigeria’s commercial airports and it is also its role to ensure safe, efficient and economic air transport operations, which includes providing facilities for landing, fueling and security as well as oversee airport infrastructures and air traffic management.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Olubunmi Kuku, did not mince words that only three out of 22 airports under its management are profitable and contribute largely to the growth of the aviation sector.
Kuku stressed that 19 of the nation’s airports under FAAN were being subsidised as they do not get passenger traffic commensurate to their operational cost.
She further said that majority of the 22 airports managed by FAAN require maintenance and upgrades in critical infrastructure like the terminal areas, the landside as well as the airside.
This revelation by the FAAN MD tallies with further research which reveals that only four out of over 30 airports in the country are economically viable, contributing N5.57tn to foreign trade in 51 months.
The four airports are: Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Muritala Mohammed Airport, Kano and Port Harcourt airports. These airports contributed a sum of N529.68bn in total exports and N5.05tn in imports between January 2020 and March 2024.
This indicates that most airports are not economically viable to support foreign trade despite plans by various state governments to commence construction of airports, purportedly to attract trade.
“We have 22 airports which we own and manage. We also have about six or seven airports that are either owned by state governments or private individuals or entities, which we also support with either aviation security or fire and rescue services. We have several states in the north as well as in the southwest that are coming up with new airports.
“I would say that based on the statistics today, only three of the 22 airports are actually profitable and contribute largely to the sustenance of the airport companies that we run.
“I would also say that we are cross-subsidising the other 19 airports today, and in most instances, we will substitute or cross-subsidise for some of the airports that are coming on board as well,” Kuku had stated in a television interview.
She further mentioned that FAAN allocates 50 percent of its revenue to the federal government, posing a significant challenge and added that the authority was engaging in discussions with different branches of government to explore potential relief measures.
To her, passenger traffic correlates more strongly with gross domestic product growth and economic activities rather than the construction of new airports.
Kuku however emphasised the importance of prioritising activities like trade, manufacturing, and tourism to boost airport traffic.
As it currently stands, eighty percent of Nigerian airports are performing at a loss.
As FAAN battles to manage the 22 Federal Government-owned airports in the country, more are rearing heads to join the already tense market.
Statistics reveal that 16 out of the 20 airports in the country contributed a paltry 3.6 percent revenue, showing merely N13,856,975,750.96 generation to the finances of FAAN in its N382,149,252,045.35 billon revenue earning for 2024, from January 1 to December 31, 2024.
The other four airports; Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, generated a massive 96.4 percent, indicating N368,292,276,294.04 despite all the loopholes in the finances of FAAN.
Stakeholders however say that if all the leakages in revenue generations by FAAN are ploughed, the agency’s revenues could almost double what it generated in 2024.
The Lagos gateway, as usual, generated the highest percentage of revenue for FAAN in 2024, contributing 67 percent of its gross revenue.
The breakdown of the document showed that Lagos airport generated N256.067,290,722.42 in 2024, indicating 67.0 percent of total revenue for FAAN within the period.
Also, FAAN collected N235,669,374,425.91, showing 65 percent within the period from the Lagos airport.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, FAAN generated N81.219,777,298.06 between January 1, 2024 till December 31, 2024. This indicates 21.3 percent revenue generation, while FAAN collected N77,385,973,000.04, showing 21.6 percent within the same period.
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, was third on the log with N20,240,994,797.18, showing 5.3 percent of total revenue generated by FAAN in 2024, while the agency recovered N19,946,374,506.48, indicating 5.6 percent of revenue collected by FAAN in the year under review.
Port Harcourt airport had N10,764,213,476.76 revenue generation, making it 2.8 percent of the total sum.
FAAN also collected N10,221,740,323.62, making it 2.9 percent total revenue earned at Port Harcourt by FAAN in 2024.
FAAN headquarters, we learnt, generated N6,532,782,761.23 revenue in 2024, showing 1.7 percent gathered within the period, while it further generated N8,176,471,816.89, showing 2.3 percent revenue recovered in 2024.
N3,617,003,400.91 came in as revenue from Enugu airport, showing 0.9 percent of total earning for FAAN, while the agency collected N3,537,184,578.44, indicating 1.0 percent collection for FAAN within the period.
Sokoto Airport earned N298,631,224.09, showing 0.1 percent generation for FAAN, while the agency collected N224,185,023.20, indicating 0.1 percent for the agency within the period.
Besides, Benin airport earned N678,664,740.10, indicating 0,2 percent within the period and recovered N636,219,777.55 percent, showing 0.2 percent for FAAN.
For Yola airport, FAAN generated N316,910,437.08, showing 0.1 percent revenue generation in 2024, while the agency recovered N302,808,561.19, showing 0.1 percent of revenue collected within the period.
Owerri airport in Imo State made N641,504,790.99 for FAAN, showing 0.2 percent of total revenue generation for the agency within the period, while the it earned N561,645,104.34, showing 0.2 percent revenue collection between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, generated N292,698,672.20 for FAAN in 2024, showing 01 per cent, while the agency also collected N251,697,867.48, showing another 0.1 percent revenue collected by the agency within the same period.
Maiduguri wobbled to earn N396,587,013.90, indicating another 0.1 percent for FAAN, while the agency also recovered N392,075,373.62, showing 0.1 percent within the period.
Jos airport in Plateau State earned N96,972,242.90 for FAAN, showing 0.0 percent for FAAN within the period under review. FAAN also collected N81,629,200.51, also showing 0.0 percent.
Kaduna International Airport also generated N91,573,066.35, showing another 0.0 percent revenue generation for FAAN, while FAAN generated N74,314,663.28 of 0.0 percent for FAAN in 2024.
Ibadan Airport which was shut down recently due largely to infrastructural decay, earned N278,164,755.03, showing 0.1 percent revenue generation for FAAN, while the airport earned N241,512,393.43, showing 01 percent for FAAN within the period.
Also, Ilorin International Airport earned N247,752,677.70 for FAAN in 2024, indicating 0.1 percent revenue generation for the agency within the period, while the sum of N247,653,618.43, showing 0.1 percent was the total revenue collected by FAAN at that North Central airport.
FAAN earned only N51,555,347.43 from Minna airport in Niger State in the 12 months of 2024, showing 0.0 per cent revenue generation, while it collected N39,566,766.63, indicating another 0.0 per cent for the agency within the period.
Akure airport in Ondo State earned N190,678,326.74, showing another 0.0 percent generation for FAAN and recovered N183,459,489.62, indicating 0.1 percent collection within the period.
Katsina airport made N113,779,8932.35, showing 0.0 percent for FAAN in the past years and the agency collected N106,749,658.31, showing 0.0 percent collection within the period.
For Makurdi airport in Benue State, FAAN earned N10,142,534.93, showing 0.0 percent, while the agency collected N9,419,606.93, showing another abysmal 0.0 percent recovery within the period by the agency at the airport.
At Zaria, controlled by the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), FAAN earned a paltry N1,598,927.00, indicating 0.0 percent for FAAN within the period, while it collected N1,598,927.00 of 0.0 percent within the period.
The above statistics indicate that airport building, despite the deep hole it is creating in the purse of the aspiring states, would not bring the return on investment as probably desired.
However, findings reveal that many governors see airport as easy route to blindfold subjects to siphon money. “It is easy way to blindfold electorates who know next to nothing about the operations of the airport, says Mr Oluropo Owolabi of the defunct Nigeria Airways and former Managing Director of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO Plc).
“It was also discovered that many of the state coordinators are bereft of ideas on the project they are embarking on. They possess the infantile feelings about flying. So, so overwhelmed with the magical feelings of aerodynamics, they plunge into the project in fantasy, not minding the cost and the little paltry revenue accruing therefrom,” Owolabi said.
He wondered why a government installed by popular votes would choose the comfort of the elites, who have the wherewithal to fend for selves above the welfare of the teeming masses, if truly their votes count.
And to put vent to his position, despite the viability of the four major airports, (Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt), the Federal Government is still bent on concessioning them while being silent on the fate of the remaining 16 non-viable ones.
And some stakeholders are not strongly resisting, saying the government may go ahead with its concession plans
Comrade Ocheme Aba, General Secretary, National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), said that the position of the union is constant on concessioning of major airports by the government.
According to him, one of the critical positions of the union is that all staff to be affected by the policy must be duly settled and that there must be strict adherence to labour tights by the Federal Government.
Comrade Abdulrazaq Saidu, the General Secretary, Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), sees the concession drive by the government as an “act of impunity.”
According to him, the agencies are governed by the Acts setting them up, stressing that before any of the airports could be concessioned, the Act setting up FAAN, for instance, must be amended to accommodate the policy.
He insisted that the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development lacked the jurisdiction to concession any of the airports in the country.
He said: “What the government is doing with Airport concessioning is tantamount to act of impunity. An organ that is governed by an Act cannot avoid responsibilities because of pecuniary interest. For instance, the boards are charged by law to run the parastatals. The airports that the government wants to concession are run by FAAN.
“If you look at our airports today, the entire infrastructure is in decay, particularly our runways and taxiways. We need to consider all those things. If we are going to bring in any concessionaire, these are some of the things that we will table before them; give them conditions to revamp them within a given period. I am in support of concession; if it is transparent,” he said.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then