Robust domestic market
Nigeria's domestic market is robust and widely accepted by many as the largest market in Africa, and arguably one of the largest in West Africa, driven by its huge population.
The Nigerian aviation industry has experienced high turnover in domestic airlines since deregulation. In general, many local airlines are short-lived, with many exiting after operating for several years.

Despite the rising cost of air transport in Nigeria and the constant flow of flight delays and cancellations plaguing the airline industry in recent times, the main reason why many people want to travel by air is These are two things: the fear of bad roads and insecurity.
Price elasticity suggests that if airfares for domestic flights in Nigeria are reduced, the demand for air travel may increase as these routes are short-haul. Nigeria has the lowest propensity for air travel among countries with similar population sizes, such as Venezuela and Egypt.
As a result, the high fares on many domestic routes make road transport an option for many who cannot afford a flight ticket despite the dangers on the roads. According to Phillips Consulting, Nigeria's road transport sub-sector accounts for the second highest share of modal contribution to transport output.
Domestically, Nigeria's aviation industry is active. There are signs that more airlines are moving toward starting operations. Not a year goes by without one or two airlines joining the existing fleet.
different scenarios
While the country's domestic market is growing and has the potential for further growth, the same cannot be said about the international market. Even in that environment, many domestic carriers look small compared to foreign megacarriers.
This is not just limited to Nigeria. Foreign airlines are spreading their wings in Africa, seen as the last frontier dominated by many giant airlines.
Despite having previously signed up to the African Union's (AU) Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) policy and other initiatives, almost all but Ethiopian Airlines have lacked strong interconnectivity. of African airlines have shown that they have the capacity and capacity to compete.
Many cities in Africa even make an eloquent case for the need to travel to Europe or Central before connecting to other African countries.
In some cases, many people find it easier to travel from Africa to Europe than from one destination in Africa to another. This shows how poorly connected Africa is by air.
A number of Nigerian airlines, including Ibom Air, ValueJet Air and Overland Airlines, have repeatedly said they should be excluded from international flights outside of West and Central Africa.
Managing directors of these airlines recently told Aviation Metric that there is a huge market in the domestic and regional aviation market in Nigeria.
They indicated that they were satisfied with what these routes in West Africa and Nigeria had to offer. They say this is a complete waste of resources and is the same as filling a basket with water by embarking on routes such as London, Frankfurt, Paris, Dubai and the US, citing the huge costs offered by the destinations. He said he is doing so.
Nigerian airlines are very constrained and have so many things imposed on them, including low levels of funding to acquire many aircraft that help them compete with the big European airlines.
Domestic carrier attempts fail
The approximately 95 Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) that Nigeria has with a number of foreign airlines are said to be lopsided and useless as attempts to bring national carriers into service have failed.
Many of the past attempts have failed spectacularly, especially the Nigerian Aviation Project, which the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development said is still on hold, but the Federal Government is reviving the project after taking a cue from the government. There are indications that they may be considering making the deal. The newly appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana This is what happened when I spoke to a journalist in Abuja.
Mr. Kana said he was given a mandate by the President to seek for the inauguration of the national airline at Nigeria's major airports and to improve their ease of use.
Several aviation experts said the president's accusation against the aviation ministry via Permanente was a welcome development.
For them, the absence of a Nigerian airline that can even remotely compete on the international stage is troubling for a country of 220 million people, and a regular flag carrier, whether privately owned or a national flag carrier. Whether it's a national flag carrier where the government has some capital.
Expert opinion
Chris Azu Aligbe, chief executive officer of Bergen Consult, explained that Nigeria is large enough to have around three globally powerful airlines, but “there is one airline that stands out. “I don't have any,” he lamented, saying it was a shame. Very unnecessary. It baffles me that there are still people who believe we shouldn't have a national airline. ”
“But the fact is that we don't have much hope in terms of progress in the aviation sector in this country because foreign airlines are operating them. Our airlines need support,” he said. We need help, but the fact is they haven't demonstrated that we can move forward. They haven't demonstrated the capacity. It comes to mind.”
“It’s not about the number of aircraft; the industry’s capabilities are multifaceted. Even if you have a fleet of aircraft, how you manage those aircraft, how you keep them on schedule, and everything else is good enough to show that everything is going well, so even management and management skills are not enough. It's important. At the end of the day, Ibom Air doesn't have that many aircraft, but I believe the Nigerians are doing well so far and managing them better.”
“Overland is a niche airline, but it has remained solid in its niche and is showing signs of rising to the challenges of running an airline. The new airline on the block, ValueJet, is showing good signs. As I said today, we don't have any notable airlines.
“Nigerians are unable to stand and fly smoothly to different destinations with any airline. All we have now is point-to-point airlines, but airline operations are in the dark ages. This is sad because it is obvious to Nigerians and everyone that we are not there.”
“Nigerian air travelers have no choice but to fly with other airlines that offer a seamless travel experience. It’s not that you don’t want to fly with a Nigerian airline, but if you don’t get what you’re looking for, You have to go where you can. Today, Nigerians fly to their destinations via Kigali. Any reasonable person who knows about air travel will be able to get them to their destinations smoothly. We cannot support the current situation where people are not getting the best opportunity to travel.”
Mr Aligbe criticized those who had expressed concern about the national carrier's partnership with a “compete”, insisting that the world was no longer talking about competition but “cooperation”.
He said, “In the airline industry, people don't talk about competition, they talk about cooperation. Is Ethiopian Airlines a competitor? What is it competing with? What airlines are there?
“Delta Air Lines has acquired a 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic Airways. Mr. Branson has sold his 49 percent stake to Delta Air Lines after many years of private ownership as an owner. If sold, Delta Airlines The sky becomes a major airline owned by millions of Americans. Millions of Americans own Delta Airlines. So when he buys stock, he's an American. I know a lot about stocks. We need to build a national airline.”

back seat
research by Air travel information company OAG Aviation In 2019, Emirates earned $850 million in revenue from flights to Johannesburg, Cairo and Cape Town. British Airways, the world's only airline with the highest number of flights on the $1 billion route, generates $500 million in annual revenue from flights to South Africa's major metropolitan areas. This number could double by 2024.
According to 2023 statistics, intercontinental flights to and from Africa were dominated by European airlines.
According to simpleflying.com, more than 100 airlines will operate scheduled flights to and from Africa in December 2023, flying to a variety of cities in all regions of the continent.
Separate data from Cirium shows that of the top 10 airlines operating intercontinental flights from Africa, half are European airlines. Not surprisingly, the other half is made up of African airlines.
Nigeria may have offered multiple destinations within the country to many foreign airlines due to lack of capacity. Granting fifth freedom rights to five UAE airlines to further open up the market, even if UAE airlines have a 10-year head start as there are currently no airlines from Nigeria. could be the final nail in the coffin for big markets like Nigeria. Round trip on UAE route.
last line
This trend of dominating African space is expected to continue. Loopholes have been created that allow foreign airlines to continue exploiting the continent's aviation sector to the detriment of local airlines.
Google+