Like in the past, the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos led other airports in passenger movement, having had a total of 3,097,152 passengers within the period while Abuja Airport with total number of 2,131,680 passengers.
No fewer than 7,109,371 air travelers passed through the Nigerian airports and aerodromes in the first half of 2018.
The figure represents 26.79 growth when compared to the same period in 2017 with 5,607,203 passenger movement.
Like in the past, the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos led other airports in passenger movement, having had a total of 3,097,152 passengers within the period while Abuja Airport, with a total number of 2,131,680 passengers, is next.
The breakdown of the Lagos Airport passengers in the first six months indicates that 901,808 passengers arrived the local wing of the airport, while 901,509 passengers departed from the airport.
At the international wing, 642,055 arrived the country through the airport, while 723,840 passengers departed the country through the airport.
The growth of passengers recorded at the local airport in the first half of 2018, indicated 14.94 per cent rise when compared to the figures of 2017. 1,568,960 passengers had passed through the airport in the first half of 2017.
At the international wing of Lagos Airport, the passenger figures increased by 5.57 per cent when compared with the same period in 2017. The airport had recorded 1,293,835 passengers in the same period last year.
In Abuja, the domestic wing of the airport recorded 868,959 arriv the airport while 8333,061 passengers departed for other cities through the airport.
At the international wing of Abuja airport, 212,819 passengers arrived with 216,841 departures, indicating a total of 429,600 passengers within the period.
Meanwhile, at the local wing of Abuja airport, the number of passengers increased by 53.66 per cent when compared to the 2017 figure of 1,107,682 passengers, while traffic grew by 69.11 per cent in the international wing of the airport in the same period of 2017. The airport had recorded 254,067 passengers as arriving and departing in 2017.
It would be recalled that Abuja airport was shut down for six weeks in 2017 for the repair of its runway. This led to reduced traffic at the airport within the period.
Other airports with high passenger traffic within the period according to the statistics were Port Harcourt Airport with 478,762 passenger movement in the local wing and additional 41,996 passengers at the international wing.
The airport, like Lagos and Abuja, also recorded increased movement when compared to previous year.
In 2017, at the local level, the airport recorded 392,968 passengers and had 39,968 in the international wing in the previous year.
Kano, Enugu, Kaduna, Calabar, Sokoto, Benin, Maiduguri, Jos, Owerri, Yola, Ilorin, Ibadan, Minna, Akure, Katsina and Makurdi airports also had increased passenger movement in the first half of 2018.
Kano Airport, both local and international recorded, 63.3 per cent growth; Enugu airport had a total growth of 39.87 per cent; Kaduna Airport, local and international, recorded 51.44 per cent growth; Calabar had 74.96 per cent growth; Sokoto, local and international, 278.51 per cent; Benin Airport 44.27 per cent, Maiduguri 102.99 per cent and Jos Airport 52.50 per cent.
Others are Owerri Airport 17.14 per cent, Yola Airport 211.68 per cent, Ilorin 34.98 per cent, Ibadan 132.83 per cent, Minna Airport 72.78 per cent, Akure 659.68 per cent, Katsina 2.42 per cent and Makurdi Airport had 78.75 per cent increase when compared to the same period in 2017.