Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says a total of 15.2 million passengers passed through Nigerian airports in 227,834 aircraft movements in 2018.

This was revealed in FAAN’s 2018 Annual Report released on Sunday.

The report posted an increase of 2.5 million passengers from 12.7 million passengers recorded in 2017, representing 19.11 per cent increase.

It also revealed an increase of 27,068 from the 200,766 aircraft movements recorded in 2017, representing 11.48 per cent increase.

According to the report, 11.02 million passengers travelled within the country (domestic), while a total of 4.2 million passengers travelled into and out of the country (international) through the airports during the period under review.

The data further showed that 182,924 domestic and 44,910 international flights were operated across the nation’s 22 airports during the period.

The total cargo movement, according to FAAN, stood at 245.89 million tonnes per kilogramme compared to 169.50 million tonnes per kilogramme recorded in 2017.

The statistics also indicated that 174.91 million tonnes per kilogramme arrived in the country through the airports, while 70.89 million tonnes departed during the year.

A look at the four major airports in the country showed that Murtala Muhammed Airports, Lagos, (Domestic and International Wing) recorded the highest passengers and aircraft movements during the period.

The data indicated that Lagos airport recorded 5.7 million passengers comprising 2.8 million on domestic routes and 2.9 million on international routes.

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja recorded 4.6 million passengers comprising 3.7 million on domestic routes, while the international routes recorded 941,182 passengers.

FAAN also disclosed that Port Harcourt International Airport recorded 1.14 million passengers comprising 1.05 million domestic passengers and 92,050 international.

Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano recorded 567,537 passengers comprising 398,266 domestic and 169,271 international passengers.

NAN