South East Nigeria Is in an airport race. It needs an industrial logic first, argues PATRICK O. OKIGBO
Without careful planning and even more diligent implementation, an asset can become a liability. The commentariat in South East Nigeria is vexed by this debate as governments across the region dig in for the race to build airports. Several commentators, including government spokespersons, mistake airport construction for an economic strategy. They are eager to risk scarce resources on terminals rather than on the hard work required to build an integrated aviation and logistics system that actually supports production.
Hardly do numbers guide these politically tainted debates. However, Nigeria’s aviation data seem to support the proponents of airport expansion. Nigeria’s domestic passenger traffic numbers rose by 4.3% from 12.54 million in 2024 to 13.09 million in 2025, while total passenger traffic increased by 5.9% from 16.94 million to 17.94 million. However, taken in context, these numbers signal recovery more than transformation. Nigeria’s aviation market remains shallow in a country of more than 200 million people. It is also significantly concentrated in a few cities. For instance, in 2024, Abuja handled about 35% of domestic passengers and Lagos about 33%. Port Harcourt handled roughly 8%, Enugu 3.9% and Owerri 3.3%.
These numbers do not make a compelling case for building more airports on the grounds of passenger convenience. That argument was already weak in 2019, when Anambra began construction of the Chinua Achebe Airport, despite its proximity to Asaba, Enugu, and Owerri airports. It is even weaker today for a second airport. The existing airport is well located, about 29km from Onitsha, 33km from Awka, and 31km from Nnewi. Since commencing operations in December 2021, it had recorded about 400,000 passengers and 7,000 flights by November 2024. This is a respectable performance for a new airport, but not enough to justify Governor Charles Soludo’s proposed second airport. Rather, the priority should be to make the Achebe airport more useful, not to duplicate it.
Cargo is the more serious argument. IATA estimates aviation contributed $2.5bn to Nigeria’s GDP in 2023 and supported about 217,000 jobs. Nigerian airports handled about 195,700 tonnes of air cargo that year. Air cargo serves high-value, time-sensitive goods: pharmaceuticals, machine parts, electronics, perishables, documents and e-commerce parcels, precisely the categories that matter to a commercially dense but logistically constrained region.
Guided by the above, Abia presents an interesting calculus. Its main commercial city, Aba, is one of Nigeria’s most important manufacturing clusters. A well-designed airport in Aba could reduce logistics constraints and confer strategic advantages. However, its success largely depends on whether it is embedded in a broader industrial strategy. The airport must be part of an ecosystem that includes direct integration with Aba’s factories and markets, cargo consolidation, bonded warehousing, quality certification, customs processing, and other related services. Without these, the airport becomes an expensive good-to-have or a mere political statement. With them, it could become production infrastructure.
The same test applies to the second airport Governor Soludo has proposed for Anambra State. Reports indicate that the airport will be linked to a proposed industrial park and aerotropolis. Fair point, but a second airport in Anambra is hard to justify as a passenger facility. It is defensible only as a specialised logistics asset within an industrial platform. Either way, rigorous analysis must demonstrate that the existing airport, branded as an “international cargo airport”, cannot serve the same purpose.
Some pundits have made a resilience argument for more passenger airports. In April 2025, emergency repairs at Enugu Airport forced airlines to divert flights to neighbouring airports in Anambra and Asaba. This probably makes the case for redundancy. With insecure and poorly maintained roads, aviation provides insurance for medical evacuation, emergency response, diaspora travel, business mobility and high-value freight. However, while the social value is real, it should not become a blank cheque. This point is especially pertinent given the scarcity of government revenue and increasing social demands.
Nigeria’s experience with state airports counsels caution. Ebonyi’s airport has reportedly absorbed more than ₦55bn since 2019, much of it before generating any meaningful revenue. Other state airports struggle with thin traffic, high maintenance costs and dependence on eventual federal takeover. Airports fail not because they are inherently bad investments, but because politics precedes economics.
The South East, therefore, needs an aviation compact, not an airport race. For instance, Enugu can function as the region’s principal international gateway. Anambra should serve the Onitsha-Nnewi-Awka commercial axis. Owerri should serve Imo and adjoining catchments. Port Harcourt will remain relevant to oil and gas, as well as to southern Abia. Asaba will continue to serve the Niger crossing and western Anambra. Abia’s airport is defensible only if it becomes Aba’s export and logistics platform.
The policy test should be simple. No new airport should proceed without anchor users, cargo commitments, a professional operating model, lifecycle maintenance funding, private-sector participation and a credible non-aeronautical revenue plan. Airports make money not only from landing fees but also from land, warehousing, retail, parking, hotels, fuel, logistics, maintenance, and concessions.
Indeed, the South East does not need more monuments. It needs infrastructure that raises productivity. In terms of passenger convenience, none of the proposed airports passes muster. Abia’s airport can be justified if designed around Aba’s industrial economy. A second Anambra airport cannot be justified unless its industrial city proves indispensable, and there is no way the current airport can meet its needs. Aviation should serve production, not politics. An airport should be a productive asset that triggers economic growth, not an expensive toy.
Patrick O. Okigbo III is the Founder Partner at Nextier
