The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that measured output
from the nation’s aviation industry showed that the sector suffered the
largest year on year fall in the final quarter of 2016, declining by
13.3 per cent.
According to the Q4 Full Year 2016 Air
Transportation Data made available yesterday by the bureau, output of
the aviation transport sector in real terms declined by 4.9 per cent
between 2015 and 2016.
However, the report indicated that despite
the slow output in number of aircraft landing or taking off from various
airports within the period due to operational difficulty, the number of
passengers using air transportation surprisingly increased within the
period.
The bureau also observed that in 2016, the performance of
the different parts of the Nigerian aviation sector varied, especially
given that there were large increases in the volume of both cargo and
mail transportation in the final quarter.
“Most airports recorded a
decline in the number of aircraft to land and depart. Output in the air
transport sector, as well as its contribution to GDP, declined in 2016.
“During
the year, several airlines had operational issues, and either cut back
on services provided, or stopped operations entirely. In real terms,
output in this sector declined by 4.9 per cent between 2015 and 2016,
with the largest year on year fall recorded in the final quarter of 13.3
per cent. However, despite the recession, which may have been expected
to reduce demand for travel, the number of passengers using most
airports increased. The fall in output was likely to be more a
reflection of increased cost of operations, rather than decreased
demand,” the bureau said.
Murtala
Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos was the airport to record the most
activity, and accounted for 34.2 per cent of domestic passengers, 69.1
per cent of international passengers, 91.7 per cent of cargo movement
and 76.9 per cent of mail movement.
The report further showed that
in 2016, the total number of passengers to pass through Nigerian
airports was 15,232,597. Of these, 72.0 per cent were domestic
passengers travelling within Nigeria, and the remaining 28.0 per cent
were international passengers entering or leaving Nigeria. Between 2015
and 2016, the number of passengers recorded by the Federal Aviation
Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has increased by 6.3 per cent.
The
data further noted that both in the third and final quarters of 2016,
there was a quarterly decline in the number of passengers travelling
through Nigerian airports. However, in the final quarter the fall was
more pronounced; the number fell by 5.6per cent. This contrasts with
both 2015, in which the number of passengers increased slightly between
the third and fourth quarters (by 0.9 per cent) and 2014, in which there
was growth of 5.9 per cent in the number of passengers between the same
two quarters.
Source:- today.ng
