Statistics obtained during the week have revealed some aspects of the operational status of airlines that operate both domestically and internationally, a data which indicates that there is a lot of room for improvement.
The document obtained from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) shows that in 2022, 26 airlines carried out a total of 13, 003 international operations to and from the shores of Nigeria while 11 airlines operated 80, 328 flights domestically around the country.
The document titled Executive Summary of International and Domestic Operations in Nigeria ( January- December 2022) also showed that international airlines ferried in 1, 648, 225 inbound passengers and airlifted 1, 855,467 out of the country while domestic airlines did 6,309,664 and 6,359,077 inbound and outbound passengers.
The data also revealed that there were 4,628 delays and 82 cancelled flights on the international operations while the number for domestic operations was a staggering 47,144 with international operations recording 31 air returns, 48,234 baggage delays against domestic operations 91 air returns and 449 delayed baggage.
Breaking it down further, according to the executive summary of international and domestic flight operations in the period of January to December 2022, the highest number of delays on the domestic scene according to flight operated and delayed as well as passenger traffic was Overland Airways.
The airline operated 2926 flight with 2451 delays accounting for 84% delay and 11 cancellations in its operations followed by Azman Air which had a 69% delay percentage as it operated 3,713 and had 2,555 delays with 82 flight cancellations.
Arik Air came next on the list with 9,750 flights and 6,440 delays accounting for 66% of delays in its operations with 110 cancellations.
United Nigeria which had 42 cancellations operated 6,097 times and had 4,000 delays also with a 66% delay rate.
Dana Air’s operations had 2,906 delays from 4,440 flights at 65% with 24 flights cancelled while Air Peace with 24,449 flights delayed 14,908 also averaging 61% and 129 cancellations.
Aero Contractors which flee 3,106 times had 1,889 delays and 99 cancellations; its delay percentage was also 61% while Green Africa operated 4,648 flights with 2111 delays and 79 cancellations with a delay percentage of 45%.
For international operations, Cronos had the least operation figure of 53 flights but led the pack 41 delays at 77% delay rate while it was followed by Turkish Airline which operated 654 flights into Nigeria In 2022 with 420 delays at 64%.
Kenyan Airways with 60% delays had 344 flights to Nigeria with 205 of the delayed. Air Cote D’ voire operated 609 times into Nigeria with 314 delays at 52% .
EgyptAir equally followed with 706 flights into Nigeria with 350 delays which is a 50% delay stat.
