Nigeria’s air travel continues to show strong resilience because most trips are essential, according to Chief Executive Officer Wakanow, Adenike Macaulay. She said 55% of Nigeria’s Air Travel is driven by business trips, while another 20% arises from medical journeys and 30% from Visit Friends and Relatives (VFR). She explained that this structure makes Nigeria’s Air Travel relatively inelastic even when fares rise or exchange rates fluctuate sharply.
The Wakanow CEO shared this data at the FAAN National Aviation Conference 2025 during a panel discussion.
Macaulay said these travel patterns show why passengers still fly despite cost pressures. On how travellers might react to a hypothetical ₦10,000 increase, she explained that data suggests such an increase would not cause a major fall in demand.
She emphasised that the core reason for this stability lies in the essential nature of Nigeria’s Air Travel, which continues even when prices climb.
“Travel demand in Nigeria today is relatively inelastic,”“These pseudo-essential parts of travel will happen regardless.”
According to her, Wakanow’s booking data over the past three years shows that even when fares doubled or tripled due to currency volatility, Nigeria’s Air Travel volumes did not collapse. She described this as a clear sign of a market where essential trips outweigh leisure-based choices.
Macaulay stressed that travellers care more about the total cost and the value they receive than the source of the increase. She said travellers are usually indifferent to whether fare adjustments come from taxes, surcharges, or the base fare itself. Instead, they focus on how much they will eventually pay and the quality of their experience.
“Passengers don’t really care whether it’s tax or the base fare,” “They care about what is coming out of their pockets.”
She explained that what matters more is whether travellers feel that the experience justifies the cost. She said Nigeria’s Air Travel would benefit if improvements in airports match the financial pressures travellers face. She praised recent developments at Lagos Airport and said smoother processing and visible enhancements make a difference.
“What is more important to the travelling public is the value they get for every naira spent.”
She recalled how passenger traffic recovered rapidly after COVID-19. Meanwhile, official figures show Nigeria recorded almost 16 million passengers in 2023. She said the country saw one of the fastest rebounds globally, and passenger movement has stayed strong since then. She added that average ticket prices increased sharply during this period yet demand for Nigeria’s Air Travel remained steady.
“We haven’t seen a triple-digit decline in passenger numbers, even though average ticket prices have risen sharply,” she said.
According to her, international segments of Nigeria’s Air Travel remain largely inelastic because such trips often have strong business or medical motivations. Therefore, travellers cannot easily postpone those journeys. However, she explained that domestic trips respond more quickly to price changes because travellers have more alternatives. She said road transportation, flexible scheduling, and other options make local passengers more sensitive to fare movements.
She also noted that fewer than 10% of Nigerians travel by air despite a national population above 200 million. She said this small but consistent segment drives most of Nigeria’s Air Travel demand today. She added that this group consists mainly of upper-middle-income earners who travel for mission-critical reasons. Because the trips often involve business, health, or family commitments, travellers proceed even when costs rise.
“As Wakanow, we sell one in every five tickets from the agency perspective that flies through and out of Nigeria,” she said.
She said this reach provides Wakanow with valuable insights into Nigeria’s Air Travel patterns. She noted that this data shows strong demand resilience because most travellers cannot suspend important trips. Therefore, she said the aviation sector should shift its energy from debating hypothetical increases to improving efficiency and enhancing the customer experience.
“The focus should be how we make distribution for airlines more efficient and how we increase the bucket of what is being sold,”
“We must make the airport experience value for money.”
She said Nigeria’s Air Travel industry has more to gain from better decision-making, stronger airline distribution systems, and a smoother airport process. In addition, she emphasised that visible improvements will help travellers feel the benefits of every added cost. She concluded that demand is not the major challenge in Nigeria’s Air Travel. Instead, the real issue is the quality, efficiency, and reliability of the system supporting travellers.
