Air travel as Catalysts for Urban Development: Examining Thunderstorm Occurrence on Flight Operations in Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Nigeria

Despite significant advancements in technology, the aviation industry faces high rates of climate related events. Hence, this study aims to evaluates the impact of thunderstorm on flight operations at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Nigeria from 1991–2020. The study employed secondary data of thunderstorm occurrences from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and flight operations data from Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) both at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation were employed for the study. Findings derived from the study revealed that thunderstorms occurred in rainy season months with August registering the highest mean occurrence at 19 accounting for 17.32% of the total. July and September closely followed, with mean occurrences of 18 and 19 respectively. The lowest months were January and December with mean occurrences of just 0.4 and 0.5 respectively. The Monthly frequencies of thunderstorm occurrences and flight operations, diversions recorded a total number of 3648 (29.6%) with the highest number of diversions in August (481), The study recommends future studies that would integrate additional data variables such as wind speed, rainfall, and other climatic parameters.