- How many private jets are active
- How the COVID pandemic effected private aviation
Only 46 private jets are active, and over 45 aircrafts are inactive with 30 in custom duty as owners boycott aviation rules to operate foreign-registered jets locally. With lockdowns and inability to use the aircraft since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to rising maintenance costs of about $4 million depending on the nature of the exercise and size of the aircraft, private jet owners are groaning under the burden of such costs. Indeed, the present challenge has led to a drastic reduction in the number of private jets in the country, declining from over 200 in 2015 to about 95 today, out of which only 46 are active.
Losses accrued to scheduled commercial aviation in Nigeria, due to the COVID-19 pandemic were put at $994 million in 2020. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) that measured the impact added that no fewer than 125,370 jobs were affected, with loss of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in excess of $885 million. An Air Operating Certificate (AOC) holder stated that except for the very top politicians, business moguls and few mega pastors, the private jet business is almost dead in the country.
