TheCable

No passenger travelled through six Nigerian international airport wings from January to December 2020.

These airports include the Enugu International Airport, Kaduna International Airport, Calabar (Cross River) International Airport, Ilorin (Kwara) International Airport, Minna (Niger) International Airport and Katsina International Airport.

The PUNCH reports that although no passenger used the international wings of these airports according to the air traffic movement data at Nigerian airports in 2020, their domestic wings witnessed passenger movements.

The traffic movement was due to the harsh global economic climate caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The passenger traffic at the domestic wings of Enugu, Kaduna, Calabar, Ilorin, Minna and Katsina international airports recorded 107,597; 98,266; 94,984; 63,957; 2,710; and 9,847 travellers respectively in 2020, but their international terminals witnessed zero passenger movement.

Kingsley Nwokoma, Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN) president, said the zero traffic at the six airports was because passenger traffic got severe hit last year, particularly international travels.

“For most people who travel overseas, travelling now comes with so many hassles. So, if it is not important, people don’t go, as most meetings are now done virtually,” Nwokoma said.

“That is why zoom and other similar apps are making so much money now. And, of course, you know what it takes to travel now, you have to do various COVID-19 tests.

“Moreover, many people travel because of tourism. But COVID-19 has really caused a lot of issues and that is why the figures are really down.”

He added that this affected revenues of airlines as monster of them were currently in the negative.

However in 2019, total annual passenger traffic for international flights recorded 34,513 travellers in Enugu International Airport; 7,422 travellers in Kaduna International Airport; 406 travellers in Calabar International Airport.

Also in the same year, Ilorin International Airport handled 5,285 travellers; 6,568 travelers in Minna International Airport, and 6,794 travellers in the Katsina International Airport.