The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that about 13 million passengers travelled through Nigerian airports in 2021.
The NBS disclosed this in its recent Air Transportation report for 2021, released on Wednesday.
In 2021, the total number of domestic passengers who passed through Nigerian airports was 13,006,481 as against 9,069,295 in 2020, which represents a 43.41% growth rate.
The number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 6,533,740, which was higher compared to 4,870,072 in 2020.
Also, departure stood at 6,472,741 in 2021 compared to 4,199,223 in 2020. Similarly, the total number of international passengers who passed through Nigerian airports was 2,219,146 in 2021 as against 1,408,026 passengers in 2020. This represents a 57.61% growth rate.
The number of arrivals in 2021 stood at 1,109,621, which was higher compared to 690,765 in 2020. Also, departure stood at 1,109,525 in 2021 compared to 717,261 in 2020.
It further said the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja recorded a total of 4.76 million domestic travellers, accounting for 37 per cent of the total passengers in 2021.
It was followed by the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos State with a total of 4.09 million domestic passengers, accounting for 31 per cent of the recorded domestic travels in 2021.
For foreign movement statistics, the report said arrival in 2021 was 1.1 million while passengers’ departure stood also at 1.1 million, making a total of 2.2 million foreign movements in 2021.
Breakdown of the foreign movement statistics showed that arrival in Q1 2021 was 212,977 while passengers’ departure stood at 222,453 in the same quarter.
Similarly, second-quarter 2021 recorded 220,171 (arrival) and 232,501 (departure).
In Q3 2021, passengers’ departure stood at 285,189, and arrival was 318,841. In Q4, the figure for arrival stood at 391,284, and departure was at 335,730.
