Nigeria’s domestic carriers and international airlines operating into the country recorded combined ticket sales of N505.2bn in 2017, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has said.
The NCAA noted on Thursday that the figure increased by 14.2 percent or N82.7bn compared to the N422.4bn sales made in 2016.
The Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman, stated this at the Q2 2018 Business Breakfast Meeting of the Aviation Round Table in Lagos, with the theme, ‘Evaluation of safety and security performance of aviation agencies in the last four years.’
Usman, who was represented by the Director, Consumer Complaints Directorate, NCAA, Capt. Adamu Abdullahi said domestic airlines sold tickets worth N93.6bn, while the international carriers sold N411.6bn worth of tickets last year.
According to him, in 2016, international airlines sold tickets worth N342.9bn, while domestic carriers realized N79.5bn.
“The 2017 tickets sales are still higher despite low sales in January due to the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for six weeks to enable the government to rehabilitate its runway,” Usman added.
The DG attributed the high sales volume to stable forex regime; effective implementation of the Executive Order on ease of doing business; and the resumption of flight activities to the Maiduguri airport, which was earlier closed due to insurgency in the North-East.
In the period under review, the DG stated that domestic and international airlines made total cargo sales of N400m, while N285.2m was realized in 2016.
This, he added, represented an increase of 40.2 percent or N115.7m.
According to Usman, about 25,528 passengers currently pass through all the airports in the country on 305 daily flights.
He noted that the agency was working to increase passenger confidence in the air transport sector and sustain the zero accident record.
According to him, based on this, the agency has enforced 90 sanctions from October 2014 to December 2017.
He said the NCAA would increase consultation with airline operators and other stakeholders to improve the industry.
The Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, stated that in order to improve safety, the agency had commenced the process of certifying the Kano and Port Harcourt airports, having earlier certified the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Dunoma, who was represented by the General Manager, Safety Services, FAAN, Mr. Elikwe Agbi, said, “We are working with the Airports Council International and following the success we recorded in Lagos and Abuja, we have started the process of certifying Port Harcourt and Kano. It will be followed by the Enugu and Kaduna airports.”
The Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau, Akin Olateru, who was represented by the agency’s spokesperson, Tunji Oketunbi, said the AIB was also working to improve its role of accident reporting and had been improving on human capital development.
The ART President, Mr. Gbenga Olowo, urged aviation agencies to join the global movement towards getting a Key Performance Index to measure their performances.
“It is not about talking; it is about measurable deliverables,” he said.
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