Market News

By : Olusegun Koiki

Nigeria’s aviation and travel industry faces heightened tension as the United States moves to enforce new visa restrictions on Nigerian nationals from January 1, 2026.

Experts in the sector said that the restriction would, unfortunately, lead to a sharp decline in passenger traffic on the Nigeria-U.S. routes.

The visa measures, which affect both immigrant and non-immigrant categories, have already triggered uncertainty among intending travellers, with airlines and travel operators warning that reduced approvals and longer processing timelines could significantly impact flight demand.

There are two United States carriers- United Airlines and Delta Air Lines operating scheduled direct flight services into Nigeria.

The two airlines jointly operate 17 weekly frequencies between Nigeria and the U.S. and shared 207,340 passengers between them in 2024, according to the executive summary on international and domestic flight operations for 2024, obtained from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

For instance, Delta Air Lines operates 14 weekly frequencies into Nigeria with Lagos-Atlanta and Lagos-New York routes, seven weekly frequencies each.

The airline ferried about 160,399 passengers between the two countries in 2024, statistics obtained from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Also, United Airlines operates three weekly flights into Lagos airport from Washington-Dulles.

For its 2024 service, the airline transported 47,340 passengers between the two countries.

Commenting on the issue, the Managing Director of Travelden, a subsidiary of Finchglow Holdings Ltd, Gbenga Onitilo, in an interview with The Guardian, said that the development was bound to ripple through airlines operating direct services between Nigeria and the United States.

Onitilo explained that visa uncertainty, reduced demand and elongated processing cycles would hit passenger load factors and weaken route economics for airline operators.

According to him, Trans-Atlantic flights are capital-intensive and rely on strong, predictable passenger flows, particularly from business travellers, students and members of the diaspora.

Also, the Director, Research, Zenith Travels, Olumide Ohunayo, in an interview with The Guardian, said that like every other country which had placed a visa ban on Nigeria, the Nigerian carriers would be the major losers of the ban.

According to him, established foreign carriers, either operating directly or indirectly to the U.S., would have less pressure due to their extensive networks and status. However, he noted that at present, Nigeria does not have any carrier on the U.S. route.

He explained that the visa ban would lead to a reduction in the number of passengers flying to the U.S, while the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would also drop.