Economic Implication of Absence of National Carrier in the Nigeria Aviation Industry

The aim of the study is to access the economic implication of absence of National carrier in the Nigeria aviation 

industry. The airline industry is the key drive of the travel and tourism industry and also a major contributor to many 

countries‟ overall economy through international tourist arrivals and departures. The study estimate the amount of 

revenue Nigeria is losing to capital flights for not having a viable national carrier over the past ten years that is from 

2007 to 2016.The estimated amount of revenue loss was examined on airlines offering direct flights on Nigeria to 

London route, in which we have two foreign airlines (British airways and Virgin Atlantic airline)and a Nigeria‟s 

private national carrier which is Med-view airline. The class of tickets and services in each class of ticket being 

offered by the airlines was examined. The study reveals an estimate of total of over $6 Billion revenue were being 

lost to hands of foreign competitors over the past ten years with British airways generating closely to $4 billion, 

while Virgin Atlantic generated over $2.3 billion and Med-view generated over $133 million in the past ten years. 

The study also reveals that the higher the passenger carried the higher the revenue and vice versa. However, 

establishing a national carrier by the federal government is imminent which will express Nigeria culture and to 

better serve passengers especially Nigerians. Finally, banks and other governmental financial institutions should 

make available enough funds with longer payback period and little interest for both existing airlines to upgrade their 

services and new entrants to be able to purchase necessary equipment‟s to make them competitive in the market.