The Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) has proposed the transformation of Lagos airport into a global hub capable of handling 30 million passengers annually to grow Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The President of ASRTI, Retired Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju, made the proposal at the Quarter-One Business Breakfast Meeting of ASRTI on Thursday in Lagos.
Onitiju said that while the aviation sector contributed between 1.7 billion dollars and 2.5 billion dollars to Nigeria’s GDP, infrastructure limitations and high operational costs remained significant bottlenecks.
“For today’s engagement, we decided to discuss the importance of aviation hub in the efforts to boost the aviation sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, the aviation sector contributes approximately 1.7 billion dollars to 2.5 billion dollars annually to Nigeria’s GDP.
“The sector supports over 216,000 jobs, including direct, indirect and induced benefits. Aviation-linked tourism also contributes about 454.1 million dollars to the GDP, ” he said.
He, however, said that infrastructure limitations together with operational challenges including rising costs, were among impediments hampering the sector’s growth.
He added that Nigeria’s air transport operations were highly concentrated in Lagos with about 29 per cent, and Abuja, 32 per cent, and then Port Harcourt with 10.6 per cent.
According to him, these activities accounts for over 70 per cent of the sector’s GDP contribution.
He said that with regard to passenger traffic, the sector handled over 16 million domestic passengers and over 3.5 million international passengers annually.
Onitiju commended leaders in the industry, including the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for efforts.
On human capacity development, Onitiju said there was the need to strengthen aviation training institutions and effectively implement policies to attract global talents to address skills and knowledge gaps.
“We had held sessions where we suggested creation of business-friendly environment with low taxes, charges and tariffs, transparent regulations and strategic investment in airports.
“We also suggested soft loans for aviation-related industries to drive innovation toward the development of world-class infrastructure,” he said.
He advocated application of public/private partnership model for aviation infrastructure development.
According to him, funding aviation infrastructure through private sector investments together with government support will be fruitful.
“ASRTI expects a new MMIA intentionally designed to function as a regional and global hub with capacity to handle 30 million passengers annually, connect more than 50 airlines to more than 100 cities worldwide.
“We are hopeful for an airport that can seamlessly blend efficiency, technology and terrific passenger experience.
“We expect an airport with strong commitment to continuous maintenance, innovation and expansion, ” he said.
Onitiju urged aviation industry leaders to give consideration to green aviation, sustainable fuels, eco-friendly and futuristic airports.
Aviation industry players from the public and private sectors attended the event.
