Outbound Outpace Inbound Passengers On International Routes

Chinedu Eze

Data from the Billings and Settlement Plan (BSP) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has disclosed that foreign airlines and domestic operators on international service raked in about $1.1 billion in 2025 and most of the passengers were on outbound flights.

Record also confirms that Nigerians must continue to travel for many essential factors and for outbound and inbound to strike a balance, government must carry out studies to know the factors that make Nigerians leave the country.

For several years, international flights have recorded more outbound flights but overall, Nigeria is not recording high passenger traffic growth both on international destinations and domestic destinations because since 2016 till date, figures have hovered around 15 million passengers per annum, reaching 16 million in 2022 and gravitating back to 15 million the following years and also, international passenger traffic remains around 4 million.

THISDAY spoke to the Group Managing Director, Finchglow Holdings Limited and President, Association of African Aviation Training Organisations, Nigeria (AATON), Bankole Bernard, who said that Nigerians will continue to travel because of many factors, which include poor health infrastructure, disruptions in the education system and others.

“The number of passengers who travel out of the country will remain high because many Nigerians travel for medicals, including our political leaders and others who can afford it. Many Nigerians do not want to leave their children in Nigerian universities because of strike, so they send them overseas for education and Nigerians travel for holidays. You cannot stop Nigerians from travelling. All these government officials have their children studying abroad and travel for vacation. That is why we have all these issues at home because they have alternative places to go,” he said.

Bernard stated that until government began to look at the reasons why Nigeria prefers to travel overseas and push to improve the system in Nigeria, Nigerians will continue to travel abroad and there will always be outbound flights.

“Until government began to look inwards, the figures will continue to be lopsided, the increased outbound passenger movement should open government’s eyes. They go out for medicals, education, tourism. So, you cannot blame the international airlines because they are not ripping off the country; they are meeting a need. It is supply and demand principles,” he said

Bernard who is also former President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), said that most of the travels Nigerians make abroad could be grouped as tourism because there is medical tourism, education and then vacation, adding that Nigerians travel overseas for different reasons.

He noted that although there was influx of Nigerians in the Diaspora and others for Detty December in the last month of the year, but the figures of outbound still surpassed in-bound passenger movement and urged government and Nigerians to provide more incentives to sustain Detty December by providing more attractions to ensure the continuity of the yearly event.

“People come to Nigeria to celebrate Detty December because if they have $1, 000; that is N1.5 million and $10, 000, that is almost N15 million. That is enough to give yourself he biggest treats in Nigeria. But if the Naira appreciates further, the major attraction may stop and those that come to Nigeria will look elsewhere where they can get such favourable exchange. But we and our government have not thought of how to sustain that yearly visit. We have to position ourselves well to encourage the repetition. Government should do an assessment to know what to put in place to attract more of them to be coming every year,” he said.

He noted that government has not used the opportunity to create jobs, it has not provided the needed infrastructure, noting that internet is everywhere in most parts of the world that most public places have internet, but even the Nigerian airports do not have internet, suggesting that the Nigerian government could reach a deal with network providers which could empower the airports, adding that such costs could be defrayed by advert and other services that the internet could attract.

Travel expert and organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, said that international flight operation is recording high load factor because it is not affected by the economic situation in the country. This is because those who travel are the middle class and others who can afford it, but the economic situation affects passenger movement on domestic travel; so, no matter how the economy wavers, international airlines will continue to have patronage.

He also spoke about Detty December, saying that those Nigerians that travel to the country during the Yuletide could be deemed as tourists because when they come they stay in hotels and enjoy other hospitalities like tourists and go back to the host countries after the event. He also said that they contribute to Nigeria’s economy because they come with money, spend it in Nigeria and add value to Nigeria’s economy.

Ambassador Uko said the travel business is booming, hotels filled up, tourists attend various events and this is despite the insecurity in the country, noting that if the government solved the problem of insecurity in Nigeria, the Nigerian tourism industry would flourish.

Many Nigerians and others who came for December in 2025 transformed cities like Lagos and Abuja, Calabar and Owerri, Enugu into major tourism hubs filled with concerts, parties, and cultural events, drawing significant diaspora members and international tourists seeking vibrant nightlife, family reunions, and unique experiences, despite high costs and economic challenges.

Reports indicate that there was influx in hotels, sold-out events, and booming local businesses, but also highlighted economic pressures with high ticket and package prices.

Most of those who visited were Nigerians in the US, UK, Canada and other places. Many returned out of nostalgia and to meet with families, while many others came to have fun at the ‘motherland”, taking advantage of the exchange which added more money into their hands any time they exchange their currency.

Stakeholders advised that Nigeria should have first grade hospitals and medical centers, very good schools with high quality learning and manufacturing companies that produce products that meet basic needs, which companies will create jobs; so that those young men and women who like to travel will get engaged in Nigeria.

To attract more foreign investment, they suggested that Nigeria must enhance security, improve critical infrastructure (power, transport), ensure macroeconomic stability with predictable policies and forex access, reduce regulatory hurdles, tackle corruption, and offer targeted fiscal incentives, while leveraging its large market, skilled tech talent, and Diaspora for growth

Since Nigeria’s economy tanked in 2015 onwards, Nigeria has recorded high level of emigration. Migration simply means movement of people from one environment to another. Nigeria has continued to grapple with social, political and economic challenges that have had adverse effects on the economy. This has pushed citizens out of the country and this trend has increasingly gained momentum especially within the last 10 years.
The desire to leave the country is prompted by certain realities, including lack of jobs, under employment, poor remuneration and others. For instance, according to a 2021 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 33.3% of Nigerians were unemployed. Also, in November 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics disclosed that 133 million (63%) Nigerians were ‘multidimensionally poor’. In addition, the education sector is literally decrepit. The facilities are battered and outdated. Strike actions have become inextricable part of the academic curriculum. The health sector is equally in shambles as it is experiencing a stark lack of funding and quality healthcare facilities. So, Nigerians move.