Emirates Lagos-Dubai flights operating at 75% capacity

February 10, 2025

Emirates Lagos-Dubai flights operating at 75% capacity – Report

By Dickson Omobola

Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives, Bismarck Rewane, has said Middle East carrier, Emirates, is enjoying no less than 75 per cent load factors on the Lagos to Dubai route.

On October 1, 2024, Emirates returned to Nigeria after two years of suspending operations.

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A travel analyst, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, who spoke to Vanguard after the airline landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, said: “The departure of Emirates from their routes, those 21 flights a week affected 85 per cent to 90 per cent of their passengers who go to points beyond the UAE. It contributed to the high rate of ticket fares on international routes.”

Meanwhile, Rewane, who disclosed the carrier’s recent load factors in a report released at the Lagos Business School Breakfast Session, also said expected visa restrictions might affect passenger traffic in the United States.

In the report, he said while African airlines would achieve a margin of 1 per cent in 2025,
Middle East carriers would achieve 7.7 per cent within the same period.

On global aviation, the report added that the International Air Transport Association, IATA, was forecasting improved airline profits for 2025.

The report said: “Fuel cost relief and booming trade will be the catalysts. IATA now expects a global net profit of $36.6bn. 2024 profit: $31.4bn; 2023 profit: $35.2bn. All regions in the world are expected to be profitable. There is an expectation of increased travel and dollar strengthening. The major alliances will continue to drive traffic. Star Alliance is likely to dominate flows from emerging to advanced economies.”

The report also stated that Nigeria might want to review the airport concession agreements signed with the Buhari administration, saying: “It will be a major black eye for Nigeria.”