Aviation Handling firms recorded a boom in the first quarter of 2021, as aviation handling companies made N2.63 billion (import and export) against N2.53 billion recorded in the same period in 2020.
This was extracted from the Q1 2021 financials of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc and Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (major Aviation handling firms in Nigeria).
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SAHCO, the Aviation handling firm, made N1.455 billion from its cargo handling services, up from the N1.324 billion recorded in Q1 2020.
Cargo handling in SAHCO Plc also includes income from cargo documentation services rendered to airlines, which include import and export cargo facilitation through Nigeria’s biggest network of customers, bonded warehouses in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt.
In the case of NAHCO Aviance Plc, it made N1.215 billion from import and export cargo handling within three months. This is against the N1.191 billion recorded in the same period in 2020.
While commercial airlines are still struggling to come out of the woods after they recorded losses from their passenger businesses in 2020, cargo handling companies were able to avoid a similar fate.
The cargo aspect of their revenues has witnessed an increase over the years, as airlines continued lifting goods, especially essential items such as medical supplies, and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.
NAHCO, Nigeria’s oldest cargo handling company, recorded revenue growth in import cargo handling from N3.60 billion in 2019 to N3.65 billion at the end of 2020.
Revenue from its export cargo business rose from N348.6 million to N397.4 million in 2020.
SAHCO, on the other hand, reported that its import handling revenue rose from N4.436 billion in 2019 to N4.865 billion. It also grew its cargo handling export revenue from N318.38 million recorded in 2019 to N447.90 million in 2020.