Nigeria is stepping up efforts to expand direct air links with other African countries as the Federal Government moves to deepen regional connectivity and attract more airlines to the country.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2026 ACI Africa Regional Conference and Exhibition in Abuja.
At the conference themed: “Next-Gen Airports: Driving Performance and Resilience,” Keyamo said Nigeria was championing the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM).
Keyamo said the reopening of direct flights between Abuja and Yaoundé, Cameroon, was an example of the progress being made to reduce unnecessary connections within the continent.
“Before, in Nigeria, for example, you cannot even go to Cameroon directly from Abuja. You have to go back to Togo first to connect to Cameroon. But today, we have air operators who brought them in to connect Abuja, Yaoundé,” he said.
The minister said several other applications for new African routes were being considered, adding that government policies were also encouraging airlines to expand their operations in Nigeria.
He said increased access to aircraft and competition among airlines had contributed to a reduction in airfares, although more work remained to be done.
“Tickets are coming down. They are not what they were in January, in December. They have come down,” Keyamo said.
“It’s because of competition. We have created healthy competition among the airlines, because they now have access to aircraft. We are not there yet.”
The minister said the government was simultaneously investing in airport infrastructure and strengthening aviation regulation to create a more competitive operating environment.
He cited ongoing projects at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, as well as runway and other infrastructure upgrades at airports across the country.
Keyamo also said Nigeria’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety score had increased from 49.5 per cent before the administration assumed office to 75.5 per cent, which he described as the highest in Africa.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the FAAN Governing Board, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said improved interconnectivity should be a major outcome of the conference.
“Our take-home for this conference is interconnectivity,” Ganduje said, stressing that Africans should not have to travel through Europe to reach neighbouring countries on the continent.
He called for stronger collaboration among governments, airlines, airport operators and other stakeholders to improve connectivity, infrastructure and technology.
The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Vice President of ACI Africa, Olubunmi Onabanjo-Kuku, said Nigeria handled more than 18.8 million domestic and international passengers in 2025, representing an 11.9 per cent increase over the previous year.
She said scheduled airline capacity for September 2026 stood at about 1.19 million seats, 37.4 per cent higher than the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Onabanjo-Kuku, however, identified funding constraints, infrastructure deficits, high operating costs, fragmented connectivity and airline financial fragility as continuing challenges to Africa’s aviation growth.
She urged increased investment in airport infrastructure, digital systems and human capital, alongside stronger partnerships with private investors and development finance institutions.
