By Francis Ogwo
About N44.39bn, which represents losses incurred at 17 airports in Nigeria, have been lost in three years. This is as airline operators kick against the concession of the airports.
This is according to a recent data released by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which disclosed that no other airport in Nigeria apart from Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja; and Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), were able to cover operations costs between 2017 and 2019.
With the state of the sector, which has been bitten hard by the harsh downturn from the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been misfortunes in terms of revenue from low traffic.
This development has led to airline owners urging the government not to bow to pressure but to speed up its airport concession plans, which has been opposed by aviation workers unions.
Recall that Abuja and Lagos airports were opened due to pressure on the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Task Force since its closure.
After then, more airports have opened which include Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo; the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA); Margaret Ekpo Airport, Calabar; Yola Airport, Adamawa; Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, and Maiduguri Airport, Maiduguri.
Reports from the Ministry of Aviation say there have been pressure to open up other facilities, which they have termed as political.
“Every state government wants their closest airport to resume commercial flights, not minding the level of compliance with the new safety regulations or passenger traffic nationwide.
“Obviously, it is not because there is money to be made from such operations. They can see neighbouring states open and don’t see the reason why they should wait. It is just a distraction but we are taking our time to follow protocols,” a senior official said.
According to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, he would not be cowed by “political pressure” to reopen.
He said, “Unfortunately, we are living in a country where everything is polarised and trivialised. I remember receiving lots of questions regarding why we did not open, at least, one airport in each geo-political zone, amid pressure to open Owerri.
“We did open Owerri because we believed Owerri was good to go. If Owerri was not ready, we would not open it. Now, we are also receiving pressure from Sokoto. If we find out that we cannot open it, for one reason or the other, we will not open it,”
He further stated that airports were opened after ascertaining their compliance status on the COVID-19 safety protocol but with Kaduna and Yola subjected to a second inspection.
Stipulations from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) stated that for an airport to be viable and self-sustaining, it must have, at least, five million passengers a year.
This is not the case today as only Lagos and Abuja airports can rake in that figure in a year.
FAAN manages 20 Federal Government-owned airports, with 12,000 workforces, a monthly wage bill of N4bn and year-in-year balance deficit.
According to FAAN’s data of revenue and expenditure in 2017-2019, it generated a total of N16.09bn in three years, and collected N15.02bn.
It, however, spent a total of N59.41bn, leaving a deficit of N44.39bn in three years. This deficit, according to sources, was not unconnected with efforts to keep the low-income airports running.
The revenue reflected poor outings from the airports.
A look at the records revealed that Kastina Airport, in three years, generated a total of N250.8m, out of which only N42.1m was collected. Its cost of operations was put at N1.58bn, leaving a deficit balance of N1.54bn.
Sokoto Airport recorded a total of N725.7m revenue, out of which N400.1m was collected. The cost of operation was in excess of N2.71bn, which gave a shortage of N2.31bn.
Ibadan Airport, in three years, made a total of N349.2m in generated revenue and collected N244.9m. The expenditure amounted to N1.39bn with a deficit of N1.14bn.
Ilorin International Airport raked in a total of N437.1m revenue in three years and collected N264.2m. The expenditure was in excess of N2.453bn, giving a shortfall of N2.19bn.
Benin Airport recorded a loss as it generated a total of N993.2m in three years and collected N930.1m. The total cost of operations was put at N2.02bn, leaving a shortfall of N1.09bn.
About N540.8m revenue was recorded by the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar, though collected more, put at N559.6m, the expenditure was as much at N2.50bn, giving a deficit of N1.94bn.
In the same vein, Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, pulled in a total of N1.25bn in generated revenue and collected N1.08bn. Expenditure was, however, N2.50bn with a shortage of N1.42bn.
In a recent reaction, the Secretary-General of the Aviation of Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), said for as long as there were political motives rather than economic, safety and security motives behind the development of airports, “we can never get strategic policies of our development right,”
“How much earnings were we making when the flights and passenger traffic were up? Why is it that we are not learning from those of the developed countries in aviation technology and commercial aviation that have reduced their fleet, staff and spread of operations drastically to a level of the start of aviation many years ago?
“Do we really know the worth of our airports or the actual contribution of Nigeria commercial aviation to the GDP? What are the total annual earnings of the domestic airlines and the regulatory agencies? The National Assembly that yearly appropriate funds to the sector without serious oversight on the cost of operations and the appropriations is a delinquent accomplice,” he said.
Ojikutu advised that to save cost, the government should concession the non-aeronautical facilities at all the airports, and not just the big four, to run efficiently and profitably. He said Lagos and Abuja airports should be concessioned in blocs with four or six other unviable airports.
This advice however, was kicked against by Aviation workers’ unions who insisted that the facilities were better off under government’s care than in private hands.
These workers include the coalition of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and Association of Nigerians Aviation Professionals (ANAP), vowed not to cooperate with the concession programme, describing the process as faulty and lacking transparency.
