The federal government has disclosed its plans to redistribute international flight operations across Nigeria while implementing new measures to strengthen domestic carriers.
These include facilitating improved access to cost-effective aircraft leasing arrangements for local operators.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, made the disclosure on Monday when he appeared as a guest on Arise News Prime Time monitored by Spear News.
The minister acknowledged Lagos’s traditional dominance as the nation’s primary aviation hub, reflecting its status as Nigeria’s commercial centre. However, he emphasised that the current administration is implementing strategic interventions to reshape this long-standing pattern of air traffic concentration.
“So we have over time, because Lagos was a nation’s capital, you have the ports also in Lagos—so people come to do business in Lagos. Maybe the ports and other… it’s a commercial hub all over the world. You always have a city that is a commercial hub. Lagos has been like that over the years. Maybe that is why the traffic is more,” he said.
While acknowledging that foreign airlines prefer Lagos for commercial reasons, Keyamo stressed that the federal government is determined to increase international flight options from other regions.
“So our duty as a nation is to ensure that we balance it up, to ensure we ramp up more international flights to these other international airports.”
He announced that President Bola Tinubu has approved the upgrade of Maiduguri Airport to international status, a first for the North-East.
“Don’t forget we have added one more, Maiduguri. The North East never had an international airport; all the other regions have. But President Asiwaju said, ‘Look, go and put an international airport for the North East people.’ So Maiduguri has been upgraded to a full international airport,” he said.
“So we can have flights going to America, Medina, or the Far East or Middle East from Maiduguri.”
Speaking on flight delays and cancellations, Keyamo acknowledged passenger frustration but said the government is addressing the issue by supporting local airlines to build capacity.
“It has been a big concern to us. And there are a number of factors. The first factor is the capacity of the local airlines,” he said.
“No airline is happy to cancel or delay flights. It affects their business too. It affects the money they raise.”
He revealed that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) Directorate of Consumer Protection has been strengthened under his watch to enforce sanctions and ensure passenger compensation.
“We have what they call the Directorate of Consumer Protection, which I have empowered a lot since I came to office… I told them, I gave a directive last week, publish the number of refunds you are making them pay every month. Publish the number of apologies, refunds…”
“Sometimes they give some credit to say, ‘Okay, you cannot get a new ticket on your next flight free of charge.’ So they do that to compensate passengers.”
Keyamo further revealed that the administration’s support for local airlines is already yielding major results. He announced that a landmark aircraft leasing deal will be unveiled soon.
“In the next few days, perhaps less than two weeks, we are going to announce the first big deal that the local airlines are having, that in the last maybe nearly two decades, they have never had.”
Explaining the difference between leasing arrangements, he said:
“A wet lease, they give you a wet lease, their crew, their everything, and they will be in charge of the plane. A dry lease is when they give it to you—go and do what you like, because they are confident that within your country, it is healthy and safe enough for them to get their asset back.”
“Once that happens, for that local airline, every day the door will open for others, and it will force down prices.”
He noted that the aviation sector is fully operated by private players, and the government’s role is to enable—not stifle—them.
“The aviation industry in Nigeria is run by private sector participants, not government. All of them, we have 13 active private sector airlines running domestic, regional, and international routes.”
“So what we have done is to make sure we give them access to credit and access to lease aircraft all over the world.”
Keyamo also shared that he had to engage in tough diplomatic conversations to support Nigerian airlines abroad, citing an exchange with the British government.
“In fact, I had to write an open letter at the point, remember, to my British counterpart. I wrote a very, very stern letter to my British counterpart, the Minister of Transport,” he said, adding that the outcome of that exchange will be made public soon.
On the ongoing redevelopment of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, Keyamo defended the federal government’s decision, saying the airport remains Nigeria’s busiest and most critical air gateway.
“We have 67% of the total volume of passengers in Nigeria going through Lagos alone. All the other airports—Port Harcourt, Enugu, all of them—they share the remaining 33%. 67% go through Lagos; that’s the volume of passengers,” he said.
He clarified that the terminal under reconstruction is the original Terminal 1, commissioned in 1979 and untouched since then.
“Terminal 1 has not been touched since 1979. That was the one built by the Obasanjo’s government and that is our main airport.”
He dismissed critics who questioned the timing and necessity of the project amid economic hardship.
“The airports, the carousels are destroyed. They don’t even have the parts to repair them. The air conditioners are gone. We now use makeshift standing air conditioners, no central AC. The toilets are gone. They are old toilets, old tiles, smelling,” he stated.
Keyamo argued that the poor state of Lagos airport has far-reaching implications for the country’s investment climate.
“What will the foreign investors see first of all, to know the health of the country and how healthy the country is? Once you arrive in the country, your first impression of other countries—your airport—how healthy that country is,” he said.
“Aviation is the face of the country. And any government that does not prioritise that is going to destroy every single foreign investment that is coming into the country.”
According to the minister, the Lagos airport upgrade is not cosmetic but a complete reconstruction fitted with smart infrastructure.
“We are not refurbishing. We are reconstructing it. We are tearing it down entirely.”
He noted that, compared to similar international airport projects, Nigeria’s redevelopment cost is modest.
“In Africa, Angola is $3.5 billion. South Africa, $1.2 billion. Addis Ababa, $7.8 billion. Cambodia, $1.5 billion. Guess what’s ours is? $400-something million. Less than half a billion dollars.”
Keyamo maintained that the scale of passenger traffic and the dilapidated condition of the terminal make the project not just necessary, but urgent.
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