42 private jets land at Lagos airport daily

According to Punch, No fewer than 42 private jets land at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos daily, findings by our correspondent have revealed.

A statement obtained by our correspondent from Nigeria's first commercial private jet hangar, Evergreen Apple Nigeria, on Friday indicated that it received 15 private jet fights every day.

But further findings on Friday from two aviation agencies, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority showed that a total of 1,200 private jet flights landed at the Lagos airport every month.

And by implication, it means at least 300 of the flights are recorded every week and 42 every day.

Of the 1,200 private flight jets, it was learnt that 450 arrived at Evergreen Apple hanger, while the remaining 750 jets landed at Exec jets hangar and other private hangars at the Lagos airport.

Private aircraft movements have been on the rise in Nigeria lately due to the increase in ownership of luxury planes.

Other airports where there is a boom in private jet flights are Abuja, Kano and Kaduna.

Evergreen, which recently stated that it was monitoring the upward trends in the aviation business, said its daily private jet movements were running to an average of 15 flights.

The firm said its "business aviation movements have increased by over 100 per cent year-on-year, and daily movements are running at an average of 15 daily."

According to the firm, flights are arriving into the FBO predominantly from Europe with London, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France and Austria, all featuring as regular starting points as they bring business executives into Nigeria.

It said, "Flight arrivals from the Middle East are also growing with Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Aman rating highest in terms of originating destinations.

"Within the continent of Africa, the movements mirror comments operators and charter brokers are making in terms of most active destinations. National flights within Nigeria and from further afield including Gambia, Cameroon, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea all reflect the increase in African business aviation activity driven by the continent's continued expansion of energy, mineral, agricultural and telecom sectors."

The statement quoted the Chief Executive Officer of Evergreen, Mr. Segun Demuren, as saying, "Owing to the size of the continent, the mid to heavy jets are proving most popular at the EAN Hangar Jet Centre. Gulfstream 400/450 models, the Bombardier Global Express family and the full range of the Bombardier Challenger types from 601s to 850s are regularly parking up at the hangar.

"The range of the aircraft enables business executives and government officials travelling around Africa and further afield to the Middle East and Europe to travel in the most convenient and efficient way."

It was learnt that charter operators provided the main body of traffic through the airport but increasingly, privately owned aircraft belonging to local entrepreneurs were also contributing to the movement figures.

In addition, the increased movements had led to a greater demand for premium services, Evergreen said.