200,000 annual traffic on Nigeria-Accra route attraction for country’s airlines

• How to get Nigeria’s empty airports viable-IATA
• Experts seek investment in route development

Nigerian airlines have justified the decision to use Accra as its launch pad for both regional and international airline operations, citing a vast number of seats on the Lagos-Accra route.

The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, yesterday at the FAAN National Aviation Conference in Lagos, with the theme, “Elevating the Nigerian Aviation Industry Through Investment and Global Engagements”, held in Lagos, said the over 200,000 seats on the Nigeria-Accra route make it the most lucrative route for Nigerian airlines.

Launching the Accra route is often the first step for Nigerian airlines in their broader strategy to connect West and Central Africa.

The presence of many Nigerian airlines flying to Accra, Ghana, has several significant implications, primarily revolving around competition, passenger benefits, market saturation, and regional connectivity.

Although the saturation of the route by Nigerian airlines is not a recent event but a recurring pattern, experts consistently warn that the market is at or near saturation, making it highly precarious to sustain profitability.

Okonkwo equally stated that Ghana and Nigeria have a good relationship, stressing that for an airline to venture into a route, it must be viable, as well as consider the economics.

He, however, lamented that taxes paid by airlines in Nigeria are capable of crippling their operations.

He further stated that the airlines’ capacity to access aircraft poses a considerable challenge due to the high cost of acquiring the aeroplanes.

He said, “Nigerian operators are doing as much as possible, but they can’t do more because of the difficulty of access to capital. Many African countries are coming here. We can do more, but we need equipment, and unfortunately, we can’t obtain it due to the high double-digit loan interest.

Chief Executive Officer of Belujane Konsult, Mr. Chris Aligbe said one of the challenges the country airlines face is in the area of route development, adding that the carriers are constrained to route development because of its enormous cost; a position Okonkwo supported, admitting that it is very costly as it is for any Nigerian carrier to develop any route except they have tremendous resources to do that.

Speaking on interconnectivity, Aligbe noted that point-to-point operations by Nigerian carriers have hindered their progress, particularly on the Nigeria-Accra route.

According to him, “African World Airlines, a Ghanaian-based airline, is doing better than Nigerian airlines operating to Accra from Lagos and Abuja because they fly into Tamale and Kumasi. What airlines need to do is go multi-sector. It is most unlikely for them to make a profit with a point-to-point operation”.

“I think the FAAN and the NCAA should help our airlines with market research to know the routes that are viable for them”.

Secretary-General African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), Ms. Funke Adeyemi whose agency is deepening the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) said Nigerian airlines need to embrace initiative that aims to liberalise the African aviation industry, transforming it into a single market.

She also said the country’s airlines need to take advantage of the Fifth Freedom traffic right, just as she called for a 35% reduction in air fares.

The cut down of fares by 35%, she noted, could see more people take to air travel, saying, ‘We need to address charges and if this is not done, it will stop people from travelling.”

Dr Samson Fatokun, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Area Manager for West & Central Africa, expressed concern over the proliferation of airports in the country.

“We have airports in almost every state. Why would governors want airports in their states? That is the landscape we are seeing now. All the airports were government-owned. We have state-owned airports or concessioned ones. Lagos will soon have two airports in a single city. How do you make these airports viable? They will compete among themselves. If you don’t have any plans for these airports, they will be moribund, except you have connectivity”.

While commending the country’s airlines for their success locally, he regretted that there are still many unserved airports, hinting, “Our connectivity has not reached the level we want.”

Most of the airports in Nigeria, he lamented, are empty in most parts of the day, underscoring the need to make them viable.

Wole Shadare