Buhari
*Katsina airport traffic rises amid general decline in air passenger traffic
By Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor
THERE are indications that the political fortunes of Katsina State which rose with Muhammadu Buhari’s election and inauguration as president have yielded massive commercial returns for the city as passenger traffic at the airport rose by 668 or 319.6 per cent, the highest year-on-year growth rate among domestic airports in second quarter (April, May and June) 2015.
Katsina Airport had a miserly 13 international passengers in Q2 2014.
According to Aviation Sector Report released, yesterday, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Katsina Airport is far ahead of other airports with Owerri (11.12 per cent) and Yola (3.09 per cent) trailing behind in second and third positions.
The surge in traffic to Katsina may not be disconnected from improved political fortunes of the state, which apart from producing the president accounts for 33 per cent of the appointments made so far by President Buhari.
The report also shows that air passenger traffic has dropped contrary to the perception that the large crowd usually seen at international airports in Nigeria meant that more Nigerians are travelling out of the country and even much more are travelling by air locally creating the impression of improving living standard.
The report for second quarter (Q2) of 2015 saw declines in passenger travel in Nigeria, driven by lower numbers of internationally travelling passengers.
The report by the NBS puts international passenger traffic at 1,048,598 showing a decline by 406,369 passengers or 27.93 per cent from first quarter (Q1).
However, domestic travel showed a marginal rise quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q), with 16,752 or 0.71 per cent more passengers travelling in Q2. The resultant 2,374,479 domestically bound passengers represented 69.37 per cent of the total number of passengers, up by 7.53 per cent from the preceding quarter, yet down 1.35 per cent from Q2 of 2014.
Year-on-year (Y-o-Y), both domestic and international passenger numbers were lower, with 73,492 or 6.55 per cent fewer international passengers and 335,908 or 12.39 per cent fewer domestic passengers relative to the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.
The breakdown of domestic traffic shows that Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos continued to dominate domestic passenger travel in the quarter with the 936,029 passengers representing 39.42 per cent of the Q2 2015 total. Despite still recording passenger numbers lower than in Q2 of 2014, quarterly numbers were up, with a rise of 39,505 passengers or 4.41 per cent from the preceding quarter.
Abuja airport, with the second greatest portion of Q2 domestic passenger traffic at 33.15 per cent of the total, showed a similar trend. The 787,067 domestically bound passengers travelling through the airport in Q2 represented a decline of 58,176 passengers or 6.88 per cent (Y-o-Y), though a rise of 22,698 passengers or 2.97 per cent from the preceding quarter.
International Passenger Traffic
At 728,064 passengers, 69.43 per cent of all internationally bound passengers travelled through Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Q2 of 2015. From the preceding quarter, this was a marginal rise of 29,335 passengers or 4.20 per cent, while in Y-o-Y it represented a decline of 106,003 passengers or 12.71 per cent
However, Abuja airport was the main driver of the quarterly declines in traffic observed. Following its spike of 683,458 passengers recorded in the opening quarter of 2015, the 253,040 that travelled in Q2 represented a decline of 62.98 per cent, reducing its share of international flights from 46.97 per cent in Q1 to 24.13 per cent in Q2. Yet Y-o-Y, this was still a significant overall rise, up by 46,128 passengers or 22.29 per cent, representing the only positive annual growth in passenger numbers apart from Sokoto, which had eight additional passengers from the corresponding quarter of 2014.
Kano continued to host the third greatest volume of international passengers, at 40,582 passengers or 3.87 per cent of the total. Nonetheless, this was a decline both quarterly, of 1,739 passengers or 4.11 per cent, and year on year, of 4,986 passengers or 10.94 per cent.
By Emeka Anaeto, Economy Editor
THERE are indications that the political fortunes of Katsina State which rose with Muhammadu Buhari’s election and inauguration as president have yielded massive commercial returns for the city as passenger traffic at the airport rose by 668 or 319.6 per cent, the highest year-on-year growth rate among domestic airports in second quarter (April, May and June) 2015.
Katsina Airport had a miserly 13 international passengers in Q2 2014.
According to Aviation Sector Report released, yesterday, by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Katsina Airport is far ahead of other airports with Owerri (11.12 per cent) and Yola (3.09 per cent) trailing behind in second and third positions.
The surge in traffic to Katsina may not be disconnected from improved political fortunes of the state, which apart from producing the president accounts for 33 per cent of the appointments made so far by President Buhari.
The report also shows that air passenger traffic has dropped contrary to the perception that the large crowd usually seen at international airports in Nigeria meant that more Nigerians are travelling out of the country and even much more are travelling by air locally creating the impression of improving living standard.
The report for second quarter (Q2) of 2015 saw declines in passenger travel in Nigeria, driven by lower numbers of internationally travelling passengers.
The report by the NBS puts international passenger traffic at 1,048,598 showing a decline by 406,369 passengers or 27.93 per cent from first quarter (Q1).
However, domestic travel showed a marginal rise quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q), with 16,752 or 0.71 per cent more passengers travelling in Q2. The resultant 2,374,479 domestically bound passengers represented 69.37 per cent of the total number of passengers, up by 7.53 per cent from the preceding quarter, yet down 1.35 per cent from Q2 of 2014.
Year-on-year (Y-o-Y), both domestic and international passenger numbers were lower, with 73,492 or 6.55 per cent fewer international passengers and 335,908 or 12.39 per cent fewer domestic passengers relative to the corresponding quarter of the preceding year.
The breakdown of domestic traffic shows that Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos continued to dominate domestic passenger travel in the quarter with the 936,029 passengers representing 39.42 per cent of the Q2 2015 total. Despite still recording passenger numbers lower than in Q2 of 2014, quarterly numbers were up, with a rise of 39,505 passengers or 4.41 per cent from the preceding quarter.
Abuja airport, with the second greatest portion of Q2 domestic passenger traffic at 33.15 per cent of the total, showed a similar trend. The 787,067 domestically bound passengers travelling through the airport in Q2 represented a decline of 58,176 passengers or 6.88 per cent (Y-o-Y), though a rise of 22,698 passengers or 2.97 per cent from the preceding quarter.
International Passenger Traffic
At 728,064 passengers, 69.43 per cent of all internationally bound passengers travelled through Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Q2 of 2015. From the preceding quarter, this was a marginal rise of 29,335 passengers or 4.20 per cent, while in Y-o-Y it represented a decline of 106,003 passengers or 12.71 per cent
However, Abuja airport was the main driver of the quarterly declines in traffic observed. Following its spike of 683,458 passengers recorded in the opening quarter of 2015, the 253,040 that travelled in Q2 represented a decline of 62.98 per cent, reducing its share of international flights from 46.97 per cent in Q1 to 24.13 per cent in Q2. Yet Y-o-Y, this was still a significant overall rise, up by 46,128 passengers or 22.29 per cent, representing the only positive annual growth in passenger numbers apart from Sokoto, which had eight additional passengers from the corresponding quarter of 2014.
Kano continued to host the third greatest volume of international passengers, at 40,582 passengers or 3.87 per cent of the total. Nonetheless, this was a decline both quarterly, of 1,739 passengers or 4.11 per cent, and year on year, of 4,986 passengers or 10.94 per cent.
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