Aviation 2025: Industry’s N712bn upgrades, remarkable events
Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
The aviation industry had mixed outcomes in 2025, marked by highs and lows. Although there were notable gains during the year, stakeholder grievances were also widespread.
Nigeria’s aviation sector faced a host of challenges last year, including rising airfares; regulatory, institutional and structural bottlenecks; weak infrastructure; limited access to single-digit financing for operators; incidents of airport violence; and disputes fuelled by mistrust in concession arrangements.
As a result of these challenges, airlines, especially local operators, maintained that the developments triggered a sharp surge in airfares, reinforcing the perception that air travel had increasingly become the preserve of the wealthy.
In this report, The PUNCH highlights some of the key issues and policies that shaped the sector, which more often than not, made headlines for negative reasons during the period.
Airport violence
Like never before, the industry was in the eye of the storm, moving from one prominent airport violence-related disruption to another, with Nigerians anticipating the next new drama to emanate from the airports across the nation.
Prominent among the disruptions was an incident involving popular Fuji music star, Wasiu Ayinde, commonly referred to as KWAM1. Another involved a serving senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole. Also notably was a face off between a female passenger, Comfort Emmanson, and an Ibom Air hostess that escalated to a fight inside an aircraft and later assumed a gargantuan proportion at the airport.
Ayinde, on 5 August, caused a disruption at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, when he attempted to board a ValueJet flight with a flask containing liquid beyond the permissible size. When asked by staff to surrender it, music icon allegedly refused, poured its contents on the crew and security personnel, and then moved onto the tarmac to obstruct the aircraft from taxiing, thereby delaying the flight’s safe operation.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate the matter. Ayinde was also placed on a six-month flight ban but was neither arrested nor remanded.
Less than a week after the widely reported altercation, another passenger, Comfort Emmanson, was filmed confronting airport workers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Ibom Air alleged that she attacked several crew members and airport security officials during a series of violent episodes that began shortly before a Sunday departure from Uyo in August. The airline said the incident was triggered by Emmanson’s alleged refusal to comply with repeated instructions to switch off her mobile phone in accordance with standard aviation safety procedures, adding that a fellow passenger seated next to her eventually took the device and turned it off.
However, passengers later debunked the airline’s claim, alleging that the airline staff were rude to the passenger. Meanwhile, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, later put the matter to rest through his diplomatic intervention after the lady had been remanded in a correctional facility for some days.
Earlier in June, scenes reminiscent of a blockbuster movie played out at the airport involving Air Peace and Senator Oshiomhole after the airline declined to fly the lawmaker, citing his alleged late arrival. The senator rejected the claim, insisting instead that the airline had overbooked the aircraft.
Concession
As the government pressed ahead with plans to concession major airports, aviation unions criticised the draft concession agreements, arguing that they failed to adequately represent workers’ interests.
The unions, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, and the National Union of Air Transport Employees, voiced their condemnation at a congress held at the FAAN Freedom Square. During the congress, all FAAN offices and gates were shut, and no worker was allowed in. The human resources director, who threatened to open the gate, was denied access by the aggrieved unions.
Speaking to workers, the President of NUATE, Comrade Ben Nnabue, said the unions discovered that the government was moving ahead with airport concessions without their knowledge. He noted that the minister had previously assured them that no concessions were planned, making the emergence of concession documents from the ministry a surprise to the unions.
The union said that the concession had suffered setbacks and was unable to commence because the unions were yet to buy into the arrangement. Workers insisted their refusal was hinged on a lack of trust in the government, believing that workers could be sidelined and their entitlements not properly addressed.
They described the delayed payment of retirees’ entitlements as painful and unacceptable, warning that it had created deep anxiety among serving aviation workers and undermined confidence in the Federal Government’s airport concession programme.
N712bn airport refurbishment
Against the backdrop of growing and more outspoken concerns from stakeholders, particularly airport operators, about the poor condition of airport infrastructure, the Federal Government approved N712bn under its Renewed Hope Special Intervention Fund. However, dispelling widespread assumptions, the Minister of Aviation explained that the approval was not for a full overhaul of the Lagos airport but was strictly allocated to the refurbishment of Terminal One in the international wing.
Under heavy criticism, Keyamo explained that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal One would be stripped to its carcass and fully rebuilt, with all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems replaced. He added that the contract was awarded to CCECC and also covered some works at Terminal Two, including apron expansion, access roads, bridges, and associated infrastructure.
Justifying the huge sums earmarked for the projects, the minister explained, “To further enunciate our plans for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, let me further clarify the approval we secured from the Federal Executive Council meeting last week.
“There are two international terminals in Lagos. Terminal One is the old building directly facing the long stretch of road leading to the airport, built and commissioned in 1979 by the Olusegun Obasanjo-led military regime. It has two wings known as Wing D and Wing E. Terminal Two is the new building on the right-hand side as you drive into the airport, started by President Jonathan’s government with a Chinese loan, completed during President Buhari’s government, and made operational during President Tinubu’s first month in office,” the statement partly read.
On social media, however, many Nigerians continued to label the figure excessive, while analysts questioned the justification for committing such a large sum to an airport already earmarked for concession.
Initially, Keyamo projected the project would take 22 months, targeting completion by May 2027. However, findings by The PUNCH suggest this timeline may be unrealistic due to an extra three-month delay. An industry insider noted, “Even if the work had begun in August, it still wouldn’t be finished by May 2027.”
FAAN later confirmed that the duration had been extended by three months to allow for the construction of a temporary structure where affected operators and service providers would operate pending the works at the aerodrome.
Fare hike
Over the year, passengers expressed frustration as airfares soared beyond the means of ordinary Nigerians. The PUNCH found that during the festive season, one-way tickets on certain domestic routes surged by around 150 per cent, exceeding N300,000, driven largely by high travel demand during the Yuletide and other contributing factors.
While other routes were not entirely exempted, checks by The PUNCH showed that the hike was particularly pronounced on South-South and South-East routes during the festive period, due to high patronage.
Meanwhile, airline operators attributed the fare increases primarily to the numerous taxes levied on them by the government, stating that they paid more than 18 different charges, especially to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. Although the NCAA has denied this claim, tax levels have continued to remain high.
Ground handling companies and airlines disagree over charges.
Around mid-year, domestic airlines, represented by the Airline Operators of Nigeria, confronted ground handling companies over a planned increase in service charges set to take effect on 31 March. While the Aviation Ground Handlers Association of Nigeria stood by the revised fees, AON argued that the proposed 300 per cent hike was unacceptable.
The major local ground handling companies include NAHCO, SAHCO, Precision Aviation Handling Company Limited, Butake Resources Limited, and Swissport Nigeria. Earlier in the year, ground handling firms under the Aviation Ground Handling Association of Nigeria reportedly reached a consensus to increase handling charges, citing rising inflation and increased operating costs.
The standoff between indigenous airlines and ground handling companies was later resolved by the NCAA, as both parties agreed to a 15 per cent reduction in the new safety threshold handling rates. Despite the resolution, what appeared to be a resurgence of the issue gained momentum, as the Vice President and Chairman of the largest airline in Nigeria, Allen Onyema, recently dvocated that airlines with capacity should be allowed to handle their ground handling themselves.
Dry lease
After Nigeria was removed from the global aviation blacklist and its international safety rating improved, Air Peace became the first airline in November to receive a dry-leased aircraft.
The industry had not seen a dry-leased aircraft for nearly a decade, largely due to diminished confidence from the global aviation community.
Last year, it was hinted that the new status would see local airlines now able to access dry-leased aircraft. A dry lease for an aircraft is a long-term rental agreement where the lessor provides only the aircraft, and the lessee is responsible for all operational aspects, including the crew, maintenance, insurance, and fuel. This arrangement gives the lessee greater operational control and is often more cost-effective, as the lessee manages their own crew and resources.
By OLASUNKANMI AKINLOTAN
