Nigeria’s passenger traffic and seat capacity have significantly increased, reaching levels that are about 60% higher than those seen in 2019.
According to the International Air Transport Association, this expansion continues the promising patterns that were started in the last quarter of 2022.
This information was made public by the association during the most recent Focus Africa Conference in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
According to the report, revenue passenger kilometers for African airlines increased by an astounding 87.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2023, falling just 9.4% behind levels from the previous year.
The conference addressed important challenges affecting air travel and cargo transportation such as safety, sustainability, trade, and others. More than 400 aviation professionals and stakeholders attended.
Regarding origin-destination passenger traffic and airline-scheduled seat capacity, different results apply to different African countries. However, when compared to the same quarter in 2019, passenger traffic in Northern Africa increased significantly in Egypt and Morocco by 29% and 20%, respectively.
Passenger numbers increased more quickly in Morocco and other countries than airline seat capacity, showing more effective use of airline capacity.
While this was happening, Ethiopia, in Eastern Africa, reported passenger and airline seat levels that were 19% and 14% higher than pre-pandemic levels, respectively.
“South Africa’s Q1 2023 passengers were 12% below 2019 levels, while scheduled seats were even farther behind (27%) due to a weak local economy and capacity restrictions on airlines.
The market, according to the association, “showed significant improvement from the traffic and capacity deficits observed in the last quarter of 2022.”
The research also emphasized how connection improvements and increasing competition among regional carriers have contributed to Africa’s spectacular resurgence in air traffic.
IATA stated that efforts to liberalize aviation in Africa “must intensify” if we are to fully benefit from aviation’s contribution to economic development.
