Amidst plans to concession some airports in Nigeria, no fewer than 20 of them generated N382,149,252,045 from January to December 2024, in the country, Daily Trust can report.
However, according to a document sighted by our correspondent, the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos alone accounted for 67% followed by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport which accounted for 21.3 per cent.
The figure on percentage contribution on generation and collection by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) between January and December 2024 showed that MMA generated N256,067,290,722.42 followed by Abuja which generated N81,219,777,298.42 while Kano Airport and Port Harcourt generated N20,240,994,797.18 and N10,764,213,476.76 respectively just as the headquarters generated 6,532,782,761.23.
The document indicated that the four major international airports including Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, raked in 96.4 per cent of the total revenue while other airports managed to generate between 0.0 and 0.9 per cent.
For instance, Enugu generated N3,617,003,400 representing 0.9 in the year under review; Benin raked in N678,644,740.10 or 0.2 per cent; Owerri made N641,504,790.99 (0.2%); Maiduguri raked in N396,587,013.90 or 0.1 per cent; Yola generated N316,910,437.08 or 0.1 per cent; Sokoto generated N298,631,224.09 (0.1%) and Calabar made N292,693,572.20 or 0.1 per cent.
Also, Ilorin generated N247,752,677.70 or 0.1 per cent; Ibadan generated N278,164,755.03 while others including Jos (N96.9m), Kaduna (N91.5m), Minna (N51.5m), Akure (N190.6m), Katsina (N113.7m), Makurdi (N10.1m), Zaria (N1.5m) had zero per cent respectively.
However, the document did not specify the revenue stream as FAAN has multiple revenue streams from aeronautical and non-aeronautical charges collected from airlines, service providers and other operators at the various airports.
This is why aviation analyst, Group Capt. John Ojikutu, expressed doubt over the figure, saying Lagos alone is capable of generating over N300bn if not N500bnn from passenger service charge (PSC) and landing and parking charges alone.
“From 2 million outbound international passengers and 30,000 international flights alone annually, it is over N400bn,” he said.
HEADLINENEWS reports that FAAN collects N2000 as PSC from domestic passengers and $100 from international passengers.
But amidst the concession plan, stakeholders opposing the concession argued that concessioning the airports considered viable – like the big 4; Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt – would mean an end to the smaller airports which are being maintained from the revenues generated from the viable ones.
The plan to concession the airports did not see the light of the day in the last administration despite the statement from the then minister, Hadi Sirika, announcing the successful concession of Abuja and Kano Airports.
According to a stakeholder who did not want to be named, if Abuja and Kano airports alone made about N100bn last year which is equivalent to $67m, “how can somebody pay $1.5m to take over any of the airports?
“Why can’t they leave our airport system to run and provide support for other less profitable airports in the interest of national development?”
The federal government, through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had said the process of the concession is ongoing and promised transparency in the exercise. He also promised to carry along the unions in FAAN in the concession talks.
A spokesman to Keyamo, Tunde Moshood, told our correspondent yesterday that there is nothing like giving out any of the airports at $1.5m, saying the insinuation was baseless.
Group of airports can be concessioned – Sanusi
Aviation stakeholder and CEO of Aero Contractors, Capt. Ado Sanusi, in his view on the concession talks called for the concession of a group of airports.
“They should concession a group of airports, so they call it the airport system. So, let’s say, which are geographically located in the same area? So if one of the airports is very viable, then it can subsidise the ones close to the other and then you can now bring other airports to be viable, either by making them cargo airports, alternate airports, and then try to foster some economic activities around those airports that are not viable.
“So, yes, Lagos airport is very viable. But remember, what are you concessioning? Because of the airport system, the concessioning must come out clearly to say what they are concessioning and what they are not concessioning and I believe what they should do, as we have in other parts of the world, is to discuss with the World Bank. The World Bank has models of concessioning airports
