Just after the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) announced that the Murtala Muhammad Airport (MMA) Lagos recorded a total of 551.380 passengers in the space of six months, and a total of 6, 261 aircraft movements after the ease the national lockdown. Domestic air travel has returned to its low traffic profile coupled with the post Covid-19 era after the December rush at major airports across the country.
It is observed that traffic across major routes has dropped by 50 per cent, with attendant impacts on load factors and airlines’ frequencies.
According to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of one of the domestic carriers: the latest drop in traffic was expected in the New Year and in the middle of a pandemic.
The terminal manager of MMA, Adekunle Aderibigbe, observed that passengers’ turnout in the twilight of 2020 was the most encouraging, compensating for the downturn that trailed the post-lockdown.
According to statistics released, inbound passengers recorded 270, 828 whereas departures stood at 280, 552 passengers in the six-month period.
A total of 3,068 aircraft landed at the airport between July and December 2020 while 3,193 aircraft took off from same airport during the period.
Aderibigbe explained that initial passengers’ turnout at the commencement of flight operations after the lockdown was not too impressive but gradually picked during the yuletide.