Airbus Company has disclosed that an additional 159 aircrafts would be needed to serve the Nigerian market within 2019-2042.
The aircraft manufacturer also estimated that Africa would require an additional 1,180 aircraft between 2019 and 2042, while at least 75 per cent of such aircraft, representing 880, would be typical single-aisle and 300 of such aeroplanes would be wide-body.
He said this represented 25 per cent of the total aeroplanes that would be required on the continent within the period.
Joep Ellers, Airline Marketing Director, Africa, Airbus, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja on the sideline of the 7th Aviation Summit, which commenced in Abuja.
“Between 2019 and 2042, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 3.3 per cent yearly in Africa, while its population will increase by 831 million within the same period.
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“Urbanisation in Africa to grow by 492 million, and the traffic would grow annually by 4 per cent for the next 20 years,” Ellers added.
According to him, air transport would continue to grow by at least five percent annually in Nigeria for the next 20 years.
The aircraft manufacturer also disclosed that the sector would grow by over 4 percent yearly in Africa between 2019 and 2042.
According to Ellers, air transportation continues to be a key contributor to Nigeria’s economy and needs all cooperation for the sector to grow.
He also said that passenger traffic in Nigeria would increase by 2. 9 per cent over 2019-2042.
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He projected that North American traffic would grow in Nigeria by 3.3 per cent in the next 20 years, while traffic between Europe and the country would grow by 3 per cent within the same period.
He also projected that the traffic would increase by 4. 7 per cent between Nigeria and Latin America, adding that the traffic is estimated to grow by 5.1 per cent between Nigeria and the other African countries.
The traffic would increase at 4.5 percent between the country and the Middle East, while it grows at 5.6 per cent at Asia Pacific.
Ellers added that for the African continent, air transportation would grow faster than the world’s average, stressing that this would be bolstered by the continent’s growing population, which is the fastest in the world.
He stressed that this would be boosted by urbanization and middle-class development, the attractiveness of inbound tourism and the potential of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), which has been adopted by most countries on the continent.
