Murtala Muhammed International Airport

Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), named for Nigeria's third head of state, is the busiest and most internationally significant airport in West Africa, handling more than 7 million passengers and over 100,000 tonnes of cargo a year. Serving Lagos — sub-Saharan Africa's largest city by population, with more than 20 million inhabitants — LOS is the principal international gateway to Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, and the largest single aviation node in the region between Cairo and Johannesburg by international seat capacity. It is operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). LOS sits in Ikeja, about 22 km (14 mi) north of Lagos Island, at an elevation of 135 ft (41 m). Two parallel asphalt runways — 18R/36L at 12,794 ft (3,900 m) and 18L/36R at 8,997 ft (2,743 m) — support widebody operations up to the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777. The separate international terminal (MMIA) and domestic terminal (MMA2, operated under concession by Bi-Courtney) handle international and domestic processing respectively, joined by a dedicated airside shuttle; a new state-of-the-art international terminal, commissioned in 2022 with Chinese financing, sharply expanded landside capacity and added 66 check-in counters, eight boarding bridges and dedicated e-gate immigration. Thirty-five airlines link LOS to 49 nonstop destinations, including dense long-haul networks to London (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air Peace), Paris, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Doha, Dubai, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and, since 2023, direct service to New York JFK on Air Peace — the first Nigerian-owned U.S. nonstop in nearly a decade. Regional connections reach Accra, Dakar, Abidjan, Monrovia, Freetown, Douala, Libreville, Luanda and Kinshasa on Air Peace, ValueJet, Ethiopian and ASKY. LOS's combination of sheer Nigerian demand, its transatlantic role and its West African connectivity make it the strategic linchpin of the region (2025).