Nigeria fastest growing SME market in Africa – British Airways

British Airways’ data reveals that Lagos and Abuja were amongst its fastest-growing travel routes for small-medium enterprises (SME) during the last year.
The 2018 data suggests that British SMEs looked beyond traditional markets to do business. Based on bookings through its SME loyalty programme, On Business, routes in Africa, South America and Europe all featured in the top 25.
The airline’s 25 fastest-growing routes for SME bookings include Keflavik in Iceland up 39% on the previous year. Santiago grew by 18% and Krakow by 12%.
In Africa Nigeria recorded more On Business growth than any other market on the continent, with both Abuja and Lagos increasing by 10%.
In North America booking to JFK in New York rose by a surprising 10% from Gatwick, usually considered a leisure route. 
Kola Olayinka, British Airways’ Regional Commercial Manager, West Africa, said: “We fly to over 200 destinations around the world. While booking to our traditional business routes remains strong, it’s interesting to see that SMEs, though our On Business programme, are looking to different global destinations to travel for work.”
Olayinka further said: “2018 was a great year for UK exports, with new records set for innovative British goods and services reaching overseas destinations. Small and scale-up firms are powering this drive, breaking into new markets and discovering that demand for British expertise is ever-growing.”
British Airways is dedicated to helping promote business growth through its On Business loyalty programme. This enables companies to collect On Business points each time a member of their company travels. Points can be spent on reward flights or a cabin upgrade. On Business travellers still collect Avios if they are a member of the British Airways Executive Club alongside the company collecting On Business Points.