AM EDITORIAL: Private Versus Scheduled Aircraft Market In Nigeria

Both scheduled flight operations, private jets and charter services are sources of revenue to Nigeria’s aviation industry, with one of them possibly depleting patronage of the other depending on the state of the nation’s economy, electioneering campaign seasons, quality of scheduled passenger services, flight tickets costs in comparism with the alternatives, and other factors.

The economic lows that followed the 2015 change of administration in Nigeria for instance, had reduced the volume of private jet patronage from the 2011-2012 boom. Speaking during Nigeria’s engagement with Bombardier Incorporated in July 2026 however, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), announced that Nigeria had about 240 private jets, making it the country with the largest business aviation fleet in Africa.

Currently, Nigeria has entered electioneering campaign season towards the 2027 general elections. This is a time when private jet and helicopter rentals’ usage surges as politicians rely on non-scheduled flights to bypass commercial airline delays and reach multiple campaign stops.

The season ought to increase government’s revenue from private jets and charter services as a short term seasonal activity from increased flight frequencies, parking fees, handling charges generated from private hangar and terminal operators at major hubs like Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and so on. Such increase remains to be seen.

More importantly however, patronage of scheduled flights by wealthy entrepreneurs, religious leaders and politicians who can afford private jets ownership is already being affected by abnormalities in the system that heaps blames on the feet of various stakeholders.

There is a growing need to fix the no-no status of scheduled flight operations to win back lost loyal air travelers, some of who have deliberately embarked on private jet acquisition and patronage of charter services.

A popular Nigerian preacher who cannot afford a private jet or helicopter service yet, narrated in 2025, how he bought scheduled flight tickets from three different airlines for one journey from Lagos to attend an Uyo programme, just to avoid disappointment of flight delays or cancellations.

The preacher, who owns a church in Ejigbo, Lagos was at the Lagos airport as at 12:00hrs for a 14:00hrs programme in Uyo. First airline’s flight was shifted. Second airline’s flight was cancelled. The third option was delayed. They told him the aircraft for the flight was still being expected. As at 3pm, he was still in Lagos. According to him, he had to call a popular comedian who was one of the invited guests for the programme and was already at the event venue, appealing to him to keep the audience busy while he waited to be airlifted. Eventually, he was not in Uyo until 9pm. The programme was long over.

The event had cost the organizer over N11 million to put together. Over 2000 attendees were disappointed eventually that they didn’t see their star guest. Some even accused both this preacher and the organizer of deceit, alleging they never actually planned for him to attend the event, thereby hurting these personalities’ reputation.

Because of this preacher’s experience, he has sworn to defy every public perception about a preacher buying a private jet to buy one for himself when he gets the means. The fact is that his experience is one of the many experiences that tend to alter the patronage of scheduled commercial flights and boost the private and charter jets services. It is such a market distorting situation.

While we try to dismiss this preacher’s experience as an old narrative, of the 7,961 scheduled domestic flights operated in Nigeria, August 2026, about 60% were delayed while 36 were cancelled.

Increasingly, corporate organizations whose businesses demand that their staff move around the country by air would naturally desire to own private jets to minimize disappointments and loss of contracts.

The abandonment of scheduled commercial flights for private travel by the wealthy, who can afford to do so, reduces the revenue base of airlines, especially through the loss of premium passengers who help subsidize economy-class fares. The highest profit in scheduled flights is usually from business and first class passengers, and it is premium profit that absorbs airlines’ fixed costs such as jet fuel, maintenance and leasing costs. It also helps airlines sustain low economy fares enough for other passengers.

Airports equally need to maximize income from private jet owners most of who happen to be the wealthy entrepreneurs and politicians in the society. The outrageous cost of air fares is also a disincentive to those who can afford a private jet and prefer the comfort that comes with the privacy of a chartered flight or a personal jet.

In this political campaigns season, we appeal to aviation authorities not to submit to any pressure of politicians using private jets during this campaign season to enable revenue leakages in form of flying for profit and avoidance of necessary taxes, service charges, and some other stringent costs of a full scheduled flight operator.

Closure of revenue leakages was part of what informed the setting up of a committee on Permit For Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) by the Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN) when he assumed office.

Considering the revenue drive of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, every accountability gap that suppresses premium patronage of air travel or siphons industry revenue needs to be filled with strict enforcement of regulations and a consciousness of sustaining scheduled commercial flight traffic .AM