The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Monday said a total of 3.5 million passengers passed through Nigerian airports in 54,000 aircraft movements in the first quarter of 2019.
The figure represents an increase of 76,397 passengers or 2.23 per cent growth compared to the 3.43 million passengers recorded in the first quarter of 2018.
FAAN also revealed in its quarterly report that there was 1.87 per cent increase in aircraft movements from 55,030 recorded during the same period in 2018.
According to the report, 2.56 million passengers travelled within the country (domestic), while a total of 951,128 passengers travelled into and out of the country (international) through the airports during the period under review.
The data further shows that 42,905 domestic and 11,095 international flights were operated across the nation’s 22 airports during the period.
The report on the four major airports in the country shows that the Murtala Mohammed Airports, Lagos, (domestic and international wings) recorded the highest passengers and aircraft movements during the quarter.
The data indicates that the Lagos airport recorded 1.53 million passengers, comprising 860,218 on domestic routes and 674,153 on the international routes.
The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recorded 1.02 million passengers comprising 824,847 on domestic routes, while the international routes recorded 203,954 passengers.
FAAN also disclosed that the Port Harcourt International Airport recorded 271,948 passengers comprising 251,410 domestic passengers and 20,538 international.
The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, recorded 322,659 passengers comprising 281,234 domestic and 41,425 international.
The monthly breakdown shows that 1.42 million passengers comprising 789,883 arrivals and 633,069 departures in 18,653 aircraft movements were recorded in the month of January.
In February, 976,112 passengers comprising 462,447 arrivals and 513,665 departures in 18,150 aircraft movements were recorded.
The statistics also shows that a total of 1.11 million passengers comprising of 556,297 arrivals and 554,220 departures in 17,197 aircraft movements were recorded in March.
