Nigeria has 32 airports, and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) runs 26 of them. The remaining five airports not under the control of FAAN are private air terminals and fields. Presently, Nigeria has 5 international airports and 21 domestic ones for local travel.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023), before the end of his administration, renamed 15 Nigerian airports after prominent Nigerian leaders. We will spot them for you in this article as well.
Briefly, let me tell you what FAAN does
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), formerly known as the Nigerian Airport Authority (NAA), was established by Decree 45 of 1976 with the sole responsibility of overseeing the operation and maintenance of all federal airports.
Some of their key functions include:
- Providing resources needed for the smooth operation and management of airports
- Ensuring proper handling of passengers and their baggage
- Providing criteria for the movement of passengers and their goods by aircraft.
- Overseeing all economic activities in airports
- Determining the charges for activities within the airports.
As is well known, there are two classifications of airports: international and domestic. Nigeria has five functional international airports. These are:
Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), located in Ikeja, Lagos state, is one of Nigeria’s most popular and busiest airports. This airport was built during the Second World War and was initially named the Lagos International Airport before being renamed after Nigeria’s 4th head of state, General Murtala Muhammed, in the 1970s.
The MMIA is the largest airport in Nigeria and transports over 50 million passengers a year. It also has a domestic flight terminal that eases congestion for passengers.
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja
As the name suggests, the airport was named after the first Nigerian president, Nnamdi Azikiwe. It was built in 2000 and started operations in 2002. It has an international and domestic terminal. Also, the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport terminal is the first to be connected to the rail transport system in the country. FAAN reports that its airport terminals can process about 15 million annually
Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano
Located in the capital city of Kano, Kano state, this airport was named after Nigerian politician Aminu Kano, and it’s the oldest in Nigeria as it began operating in 1936. Before Nigeria’s independence, it was the Royal Air Force station, serving as the point of arrival and departure for the Royal Air Force.
The Mallam Aminu airport serves most of the northern region. It has international and local terminals, but most of its international flights cater to Muslim pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca.
Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers
This airport, located in Omagwa, Port Harcourt, in Rivers state, started operations in the 1980s and also offers domestic and international flights. However, it was closed in August 2006 due to an emergency and reopened in December 2007. And in October 2018, a new terminal was added at the airport.
Port Harcourt International Airport is among the airports Buhari renamed. The airport now goes by the name Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo International Airport.
Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu
This airport, located in the capital city of Enugu, was commissioned on October 22, 1976. It was named after a distinguished medical missionary and governor of the Eastern region in Nigeria’s first republic, Akanu Ibiam. This airport has domestic and local terminals and is the primary airport serving the eastern part of Nigeria.
What are the domestic airports in Nigeria?
Domestic airports, also known as local airports, handle flights within the country, although some have the word “international” in their names.
They include:
- Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu Airport, formerly called the Akure Airport Medium Airport, Ondo state
- Akwa Ibom International Airport, Akwa Ibom state
- Asaba International Airport, Delta state
- Oba Akinzua II Airport, formerly called the Benin Airport, Edo state
- Brigadier Zakari Maimalari Airport, formerly called Gombe Lawanti International Airport, Gombe state
- Gusau Airport, Zamfara
- Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, formerly called the Ibadan Airport, Oyo
- General Tunde Abdullahi Idiagbon Airport, formerly called the Ilorin International Airport, Kwara
- Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina Airport, formerly called Kaduna Airport, Kaduna
- President Muhammadu Buhari Airport, formerly called Maiduguri International Airport, Borno
- Joseph Sarwuan Tarka Airport, formerly called Makurdi Airport, Benue
- Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Cross River
- Mall. Abubakar Imam Airport, formerly called the Minna Airport, Niger
- Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo International Airport, formerly known as the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers
- Sadiq Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto
- Sir. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi
- Warri Airport, Delta
- Lamido Aliyu Mustapha Airport, formerly called Yola Airport, Adamawa
- Zaria Airport, Kaduna
Nigeria’s aviation sector hasn’t been at its best. Some of these airports are not in good condition, and hospitality in some places is poor. With the hope that most Nigerians share, it will be nice to see developments in our aviation sector that raise the level of service that our airports provide, and perhaps for once, our plans to have a national airline will stop being a pipe dream.
