Lack of transit facilities greatest barrier to becoming global player-Okonkwo

Lack of transit facilities greatest barrier to becoming global player-Okonkwo

·         FAAN plans facilities in new terminal project

 United Nigeria Airlines chairman, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, has stated that the lack of transit facilities is the single greatest barrier to becoming a global player.

Without these facilities, Nigerian airports are effectively dead ends rather than the regional hubs they are geographically positioned to be.

Okonkwo emphasised that flying long-haul to London or New York is nearly impossible to sustain without a transit hub.

There are indications that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has finalised plans to build transit facilities as part of the ongoing multi-billion-naira total rebuild of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has acknowledged these structural constraints and promised that upcoming airport rehabilitations at the Lagos airport will include dedicated transit corridors.

However, for many operators, the clock is ticking; they argue that without these facilities and a fiscal ceasefire on taxes, the Nigerian aviation industry will continue to shrink, with foreign carriers dominating the skies.

Speaking at the weekend on the sidelines of his airline’s fifth year celebration, Okonkwo lamented that the absence of a transit facility at any of the international airports made it difficult for the airlines to create a hub.

He stated that without transit facilities, it would be difficult for Nigerian airlines to operate long-haul flights.

Recent 2024–2025 data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reveals a staggering statistic: only 1% of international passengers arriving in Nigeria connect to another country.

In major hubs such as Addis Ababa or Doha, transit passengers often account for 60–80% of total traffic.

Consequently, Nigerian airlines are forced to survive solely on point-to-point traffic. They cannot feed their long-haul flights with passengers from nearby West African countries because those passengers would have to clear Nigerian Immigration and Customs just to change planes.

Because Lagos and Abuja lack sterile transit zones, travellers from neighbouring countries (such as Benin, Togo, or Cameroon) prefer Asky Airlines (Togo) or Ethiopian Airlines. These travellers bypass Nigeria entirely, even though Nigeria is the largest economy in the region.

In Lagos, the domestic and international terminals remain physically separated. Passengers often have to take a taxi between buildings, re-check luggage, and navigate chaotic security lines, making seamless connections a myth.

 “It’s a big concern for us (airline operators) that we don’t have a primary facility. It makes it very difficult to create a hub in Nigeria. What that means is that if those things are not in place, it will be very difficult for us to achieve our aim of flying to longer regions, including continental and intercontinental destinations,” he said.

“We are very hopeful that the engagement we are having with the Minister of Aviation, who is very interested in this, will yield the expected result before we kick off, because we must be able to get people from other regions into Nigeria.

“So, we consider this a critical infrastructure in our airports. We are engaging, and we are getting positive results. As of the construction going on, I don’t know the details of what is contained there, but I know that this minister will address it.”

The airline owner disclosed that management had finalised plans to list on the Nigerian Exchange in the next three years, adding that this would also enable more Nigerians to invest in the airline.

Wole Shadare