Chinedu Eze
When the Tinubu administration took office in 2023, some radical decisions were taken which reverberated in the aviation industry. Some of the development include; foreign exchange market reforms, removal of fuel subsidy. The two actions of government gave rise to stability in the exchange rate and guaranteed the supply of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1.
In 2024, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo had developed his five-point development agenda or key performance indicators which include; enhancing safety (International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) compliance, boosting infrastructure, including airport modernisation, support for local airlines, developing human capacity and optimising revenue generation.
Also, the administration in 2024 solved the problem of trapped funds, signed the Practice Direction that enables lessors, with full support of the Nigerian courts, to take away its aircraft from Nigerian carriers in the case of non-compliance with lease agreements. As a result of this, the Aviation Working Group (AWG) removed the country from its watch list.
In 2025, the industry witnessed availability of operating aircraft and increase in the number of commercial airlines. Although airfares were high but the airlines offered more seats which met the demand of air travellers. Howver, towards the end of the year, the fares were outrageously high.
To guarantee continuous upgrade and development of major airports in the country, Tinubu’s administration is pushing for the concession of international airports in the country. It was a plan it inherited, which the previous administration made so much noise about but achieved nothing because of lack of sincerity and transparency in the process.
Tinubu’s administration restarted the process for major airports like Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu with a focus on greater transparency, approving business cases for some like Port Harcourt and Enugu, and aiming to boost efficiency while ensuring worker protection and addressing safety. What is really interesting is that some state government have developed interest in aviation with strong commitment, an effort pioneered by Akwa Ibom.
So, in 2025, Nigeria’s aviation sector saw growth in new airline operations, like Enugu Air, new Commitment by Cross River state, which acquired two Bombardier CRJ 1000 jets for its Cally Air. The aircraft are operated by ValueJet, while Aero Contractors continues to operate the original two Boeing 737 also owned by the state government.
Bayelsa State acquired two ATR 72-600 for is airline to be named Bayelsa Air and the aircraft are currently managed by Pioneer Airline. It started scheduled commercial service in 2025. Ebonyi State last year acquired three aircraft for its own planned carrier. The aircraft are expected to arrive this year. Ogun State, which kicked off schedule flight service in its new airport, also planned to start its own airline and has acquired two Bombardier CRJ jets for its planned airline, Gateway Air. The aircraft are currently being operated by ValueJet.
On infrastructure, earlier last year, the Federal Executive Council approved N712 billion for the upgrade of the old international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, work had since started and the plan is to totally transform the facility, create exit structure for arriving passengers in the new terminal, known as Terminal 2, so that arriving passengers and departing passengers will not follow the same access to and out of the terminal.
Nigeria significantly improved its standing with the Cape Town Convention (CTC) by boosting its compliance score to 75.5 per cent, moving from its previous rating, after implementing the Irrevocable Deregistration and Export Request Authorization (IDERA) procedure, leading to its removal from the Aviation Working Group (AWG) watch list and unlocking better aircraft leasing for airlines in 2024. This yielded positive result in 2025 when Air Peace received a commercial aircraft on dry lease from world’s biggest leasing company, Aer Cap, after over 10 years lessors blacklisted Nigerian carriers for not keeping with the terms of leasing agreement in the past.
The dry lease was facilitated by federal government’s guarantee, indicating that it would be held responsible if Air Peace falters on the terms of contract.
Over the years, Nigerian airlines have been leasing aircraft on wet lease arrangement which is three times costlier than dry leasing, short term with lessor’s crew operating and maintaining the aircraft; unlike dry lease, which is long term with the lessee, the airline, managing the aircraft in terms of maintenance and crew.
Before this, Air Peace had laid a foundation for the establishment of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The N32 billion project is targeted at becoming West Africa’s largest maintenance facility and expected to significantly reduce capital flight by handling aircraft maintenance locally, creating thousands of jobs, and offering technical training with support from Embraer.
The facility aims to transform Nigeria’s aviation sector, support other airlines, and potentially service government aircraft, with completion expected within 15 months of the ground-breaking.
Also in 2025, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) issued aerodrome certificates for the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) and Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo International Airport, Port Harcourt (JOAIA), thus making it four major international airports in Nigeria operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) that have been certified as the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja were recertified in November 2024.
Again in 2025, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority took a significant step to modernise aviation regulation with the launch of a new digital platform designed to fast-track pilots’ licensing and medical certification processes. The deployment of the EMPIC PEL/MED platform would follow a phased approach, with full operationalisation scheduled for April 2, 2026.
Just as EMPIC PEL/MED platform will become fully functional this year, there are many projects and programmes that started last year that will be completed this year. This year, it is highly likely that Enugu Air will obtain its Air Operator Certificate (AOC), and likely Cally Air of Cross River state, Gateway Air of Ogun state and possibly Bayelsa.
Also, in 2026, the transformation of the International Terminal 1, will be completed or nearing completion by the end of this year and this year, Air Peace will be introducing more international destinations like Brazil, resumption of the South Africa destination and others. The airline is expected to receive more brand-new Embraer E195-E2.
Analysts said the aviation industry would become more robust, as new airlines join the market. However, they expect the industry to grow and to bring down airfares to enable ordinary Nigerian citizens afford the cost of air ticket.
