Lagos Aiport Records Highest Aircraft Movement

The Murtala Muhammed In
ternational Airport (MMIA), Lagos, has been described as the airport with the highest number of aircraft movements in Nigeria.
With a total of 21,955 aircraft-movements in 2013, it is followed by Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which recorded 18,417 in same year.
According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the figure indicated that the majority of Nigerian major airline operators are concentrated in Lagos and Abuja routes.
The Acting Director General of NCAA, Mr Benedict Adeyileka, said out of 4.5 million aircraft by Nigerian airlines at major airports in 2013, 3.6 million were airlifted at the five major airports, while Lagos alone recorded 43 per cent and Abuja 39 per cent.
Speaking recently in Lagos, at a  seminar titled, “Sustaining Safety In The Nigerian Aviation Sector,” Mr Adeyileka noted that the major challenges facing the aviation sector  in Nigeria are the problem of ageing aircraft, high cost aircraft leasing/financial, highest cost of aircraft insurance, ageing workforce and fuel.
According to him, “it is not the age of the aircraft that is the issue, but effective maintenance of the aircraft and operating cost.”
He said the removal of component for maintenance and repair cost increase as the aircraft age increases, noting that dispatch reliability also decreases as the aircraft age increases due to discovery of defects, which in turn decreases aircraft availability.
Generally, aircraft have mandatory structural inspection programmes imposed on them by the time they are 20 years old with a specified number of flight hours and flight cycles. The amount of aircraft ground lime in economic sense is an opportunity cost for the aircraft most especially when the aircraft is on dry lease.
Adeyileka added that most Nigerian airlines prefer lease financing which has been a reflection of how short term airline business has become in Nigeria, emphasizing that one of the major challenges for airlines in the country has been the issue of lease rates being paid in US dollars while passengers’ fares are in Naira and exchange rates usually fluctuate.
He further noted that most Nigerian financial institutions prefer to support business aviation at the expense of commercial aviation because business aviation has less risk whne compared to the commercial aviation.