Domestic airlines in Nigeria lost an estimated N32.5 billion to 50,800 flight delays and cancellations in 2025, a report obtained by The Guardian has said.

The airlines also operated 87,650 flights within the period under review.

The breakdown of the disruptions indicated that 45,320 flights were delayed, while another 5,480 flights were outrightly cancelled in the year.

The report, which was conducted by a research aviation company, Aeronexus Partners and titled ‘2025 Domestic Airline Performance Overview’, attributed the delays and cancellations to various reasons.

One of the glaring reasons for flight cancellations, according to the report, was crew shortage, while weather and technical issues also played prominent roles in the disruptions.

The 5,480 cancellations indicated an increase of six per cent when compared to the same period in 2024.

Quarter-by-quarter, the survey showed that 1,320 flights were delayed in Q1, 1,410 in Q2, 1,460 in Q3 and another 1,290 in Q4.

For the 45,320 flight delays, operational issues, air traffic congestion and airport poor infrastructure were responsible.

This also indicated an eight per cent increase when compared to the previous year, according to the report.

The quarter-by-quarter breakdown showed that 10,800 flights were cancelled in Q1, 11,250 in Q2, 12,100 in Q3 and 11,170 in Q4.

The report revealed that the flight disruptions led to an estimated N32.5 billion revenue loss for the 15 scheduled airlines as of 2025, at an average airfare of 120,000 per flight.

The breakdown of the losses showed that the carriers lost N7.8 billion in Q1 of 2025, N8.5 billion in Q2, N8.9 billion in Q3 and another N7.3 billion in Q4, totalling N32.5 billion.

A Managing Partner of Aeronexus, Gbenga Onitilo, told The Guardian that Nigeria’s airlines were confronted with various challenges in the past year, just like the previous years.

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is, however, yet to make public the 2025 executive summary, which comprises the number of flights, airlines and total passengers ferried by each carrier, among other data within the past year. (Guardian)

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