Nigeria Seat Capacity Jumps 37.4% as Africa Outpaces Global Air Traffic Growth
Africa is growing faster than the rest of the world in the air, but it is still selling only a sliver of global traffic. That was the central message from Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, Vice President of Airports Council International (ACI) Africa and Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), at the opening of the ACI Africa Regional Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Abuja. The week-long gathering, hosted by FAAN from 19 to 25 September, carries the theme "Next-Gen Airports: Driving Performance and Resilience".
The growth numbers are strong. Citing IATA data, she said African airlines recorded a 6.4 per cent year-on-year rise in international passenger demand in July 2026, at a time when global international demand fell by 0.1 per cent. Overall African demand grew 5.2 per cent, against a global average of 0.2 per cent, making Africa the second fastest-growing region after Latin America and the Caribbean.
For anyone selling West African product, the Nigerian capacity figures are the most immediately useful part. Nigeria recorded 1.19 million scheduled seats in September 2026, a 37.4 per cent increase on the same month in 2025 and the fastest growth rate among Africa's top ten aviation markets. Lagos is leading it: scheduled seat capacity at Murtala Muhammed International Airport rose 24.1 per cent in September. Onabanjo-Kuku linked the surge to currency reforms, new aircraft leasing arrangements and renewed confidence among international carriers, several of which have resumed Nigerian operations.
More seats usually mean softer fares and easier group space. Agencies in Lagos, Abuja and across the region should be reviewing contracts now rather than after the year-end peak, and operators building inbound programmes into Nigeria have more options to work with than at any point in recent years. Nigeria has become the fourth-largest aviation market in Africa, with more than 18.8 million domestic and international passengers in 2025, an 11.9 per cent rise year on year.
Set against population, though, the gap is wide. Nigeria's more than 220 million people generate roughly 19.5 million passenger movements a year across 28 airports. Across the continent, Africa accounts for about one per cent of global air traffic while holding 18 per cent of the world's population. Load factors remain below global averages, and the financial position of many African carriers is still fragile. "Growth alone is not the full story," Onabanjo-Kuku told delegates, pointing to funding constraints, infrastructure gaps, high operating costs and fragmented connectivity.
She set out what she sees as the next stage for African airports: moving beyond aeronautical revenue alone and building commercial ecosystems that include logistics, hospitality, retail, data-driven services and airport-city development. Five priorities should shape the coming decade, she said, namely financial sustainability, intelligent infrastructure, operational resilience, human capital and strategic partnerships. Governments cannot fund this alone, and she called for stronger cooperation with private investors, airlines, technology firms, logistics operators and development finance institutions, alongside predictable investment frameworks and more commercial freedom for airport managers.
FAAN pointed to its own record since 2023, including runway rehabilitation at Lagos, terminal upgrades, better airfield lighting, automated e-passport gates and digital passenger processing. The authority obtained ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications in January 2026, and more than 3,500 staff have completed ICAO and ACI training.
The frameworks for the next phase already exist in the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market, though she warned that these must be matched by real action. For travel businesses, that is the question to sit with: if intra-African routes open as promised, does your company have the products, the partners and the staff ready to sell them?
