The Impact of Deregulation and Liberalization in the Nigerian Air Transport Industry: An Overview

Abstract

The effect of globalization is fast showing its attendant effects on the Nigerian aviation industry leading to an increase in passengers’ traffic movement in Nigeria’s airports. More importantly, there seems to be a paradigm shift which affects ownership and administration of operation in the Nigerian aviation industry. This study examines among others the impact of deregulation and liberalization in the Nigerian air transport industry; the effects of the latter on operation and control changes that affect operational efficiency in the airline business; and the impacts of liberalization on attracting foreign direct investment and foreign airline participation in the Nigerian aviation industry. The methodology used for this study is documentary research, which entails search of existing published and unpublished documents and databases of stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry and external sources with affinity to the sector. The results of this study reveal that an unprecedented growth has been recorded in Nigeria. It includes among others: healthy competition needed for growth and development; increased participation in the industry by foreign airlines; increased foreign direct investment in the airline business and airport infrastructure development.

Determinants of international air passenger travel demand in Nigeria: cointegration and causality analysis

“…According to the annual reports of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria-FAAN (FAAN 2019), enplaned international air passengers to and from Nigeria increased by 286% from 1.1 million in 1982 to 4.6 million in 2019 (figure 1). This growth has been attributed to the liberalization of the air transport market (Oluwakoya 2011). With the adoption of deregulation, privatization and liberalization policies, Nigeria signed open skies agreement with the United States, Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with several countries and implemented the Yamoussoukro Declaration with the aim of increasing international air traffic to and from Nigeria.…”