Nigeria booking volume crashes by 35% in june
The booking volume among Nigerian travellers has dropped massively by 35 per cent as at June 2023 to 254,083 when compared to the same period in 2022.
A report presented by Dr. Gabriel Olowo, the immediate past President of Aviation Round Table (ART) at the Q2 2023 Brunch Business Meeting with the theme: ‘Aviation Reset: Agenda for the New Dispensation,’ held in Lagos last week, indicated that apart from January this year, Year-On-Year (YOY) has continued to declined.
The statistics indicated that in January 2022, the booking volume in Nigeria stood at 261,970, while it reached 373,237 in January 2023. This indicated 42 per cent climb.
Also, for February 2023, the YOY booking volume indicated that there was a 2 per cent decline with 298,276 figures when compared to the same period in 2022. In February 2022 YOY stood at 303,669.
For March 2023, the booking volume was 358,923, showing 12 per cent decline when compared to 409,636 in the same period in 2022.
Also, for April 2023, the booking volume was 273,497, while it was 337,447 in 2022. The April 2023 figure indicated 19 per cent decline when compared to the 2022 figure.
For May 2023, booking volume in Nigeria was 311,083, while it was 366,997 in 2022. This equally showed 15 per cent decline when compared to the same period in 2022.
For June 2023, the figure was 254,083, compared to 388,037, which indicated a massive 35 per cent decline in the YOY review.
Besides, the total booking volume in 2023 as at June was 1,869,099, while it stood at 2,067,756 in the 2022 review.
Olowo, also lamented that Nigerian airlines remained small and highly fragmented in fleet size despite the population of the country and the high passenger volume.
According to his figures reeled, Air Peace had 30 aircraft, Arik Air; 17, Max Air; 13, while Dana Air and Overland Airways had seven aircraft each in their fleet.
Furthermore, Olowo said that Ibom Air currently has seven aircraft, ValueJet; six, Azman and Rano Air; five aircraft each, United Nigeria Airlines; four and Green Africa Airways has three aircraft in its fleet.
He explained that with the current fleet size, none of the Nigerian airlines could compete in the industry, noting that for the airlines to compete, they needed to merge or collaborate with one another.
He added: “Our 11 airlines with a total fleet of 104 aircrafts is less than the one controversial Ethiopian airlines, which parades 144 aircraft in its fleet for example.
“Competing out there, will be a herculean task without collaboration, cooperation and or merger? Merger was successful in banking and should be successful in aviation, dwelling on fleet size rather than share capital.
“On time Performance (OTP) of Nigeria airlines is woeful and deplorable with an average of 61 per cent delay (except Ibom, 30 per cent), yet very far below acceptable world average.
“Truth be told, this is either a reflection of inadequate fleet size, poor maintenance and or inefficient workforce outside the questions of weather, technical and others.”
Olowo, however, emphasised that the Federal Government could not be exonerated from the many airline failures of the past.
According to him, the Nigeria political authority seemed to be paying much attention to renovating airport infrastructure like the Murtala Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, which he said were beyond economic repair.
He stated that the government was doing all these at the detriment of domestic airlines who use the infrastructure.
Olowo, challenged the Nigerian airlines to take a cue OneWorld.
Skyteam, and other global alliances by collaborating and cooperating with one and other, while also recommending merger through establishment of two competing oligopoly flag carriers.
