Nigeria’s aviation sector has recorded a mixed recovery pattern since 2022, with passenger traffic data from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) revealing steady international growth alongside a prolonged domestic slowdown. Between 2022 and 2024, total passenger movements declined modestly, masking a deeper structural shift within the market.
International passenger traffic rose consistently over the three-year period. In 2022, Nigeria recorded 3,752,746 international passenger movements. This increased to 4,070,833 in 2023, representing an 8.4 per cent growth, before climbing further to 4,334,665 in 2024, a 6.4 per cent increase year-on-year. Overall, international travel expanded by approximately 15.5 per cent between 2022 and 2024, adding more than 580,000 annual passengers to Nigeria’s international gateways.
Domestic passenger traffic followed the opposite trajectory. In 2022, local passenger movements stood at 14.52 million. By 2023, this figure declined to 13.41 million, a 7.6 per cent drop. The downward trend continued in 2024, with domestic movements falling further to 12.54 million, reflecting an additional 6.4 per cent decline. Over three years, Nigeria’s domestic aviation market contracted by about 13.6 per cent, losing nearly two million passengers.
The overall passenger picture shows that Nigeria’s airports handled approximately 16.88 million passengers in 2024, down from 17.77 million in 2022, a net decline of 5 per cent. While international traffic growth helped soften the impact of domestic losses, it was not sufficient to offset the sharp fall in local travel.
Airport-level data reinforces this imbalance. Lagos remained the dominant international hub, processing over three million international passengers in 2024, a 24.7 per cent increase from 2022. Abuja maintained relatively stable international traffic but experienced a significant decline in domestic movements. Meanwhile, secondary airports such as Owerri and Enugu posted modest domestic growth, suggesting emerging regional demand even as major hubs softened.
Taken together, FAAN’s harmonised data shows that Nigeria’s aviation growth since 2022 has been uneven rather than broad-based. The resilience of international travel contrasts sharply with the fragility of domestic aviation, raising questions about affordability, airline sustainability, and long-term market balance as the industry approaches 2026.
