Airport capacity utilization in Nigeria : a performance and efficiency analysis

Most airlines in Nigeria fly at about the same time of the day creating great strains on airports’ runways and air traffic management. This study examines air traffic flow: recorded landings and take-off times, arrival times and time between arrivals and times spent in the airport. The data collected were analyzed using the queue theory to know the airport turnaround time and the rate of usage of the airport as well as time variation in usage pattern. The results showed that the airport was grossly underutilized; most domestic traffic movements had two main peaks (morning and evening) with the headway been dangerously close. There is grave danger in clustered take-offs and landings so it was advised that to boost airport capacity utilization staggering of airlines’ schedules should be encouraged