AS the dust is yet to settle over the trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines, despite the payment of $265million by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), being part of the whole $600 million, therev are indications that the domestic airlines are indebted to various aviation agencies to the tune of over N36 billion.
This is apart from another $7.8 million previous debts.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting held between the aviation agencies and the local airlines and ground handling companies in Abuja, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu cautioned that if the debts owed the agencies were not paid back immediately in the next few weeks the aviation agencies may collapse very soon.
According to Nuhu, the debts owed the regulatory bodies by the airlines came from the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charge (CSC) which have accumulated to over N19 billion and $7.8 million in the last few years.
Out of the whopping N36 billion the airlines owed the NCAA N19 billion while they are indebted to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to the tune of N18 billion and N5 billion, respectively.
Their indebtedness to FAAN came from the landing and parking charges of their aircraft while the debts owed to NAMA came from terminal and navigational charges.
The NCAA DG, however, gave the airlines one month ultimatum within when to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCAA that would serve as the mode for payment of the debts.
He noted that any airline that defaults three times after the MoU, will have its AOC suspended.
He also expressed displeasure over a letter, which emanated from the umbrella body of the local airline operators, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), signed by its President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa, dated August 8, 2022 and addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika that accused the agencies, especially the NCAA of putting unnecessary pressures on the operators through multiple charges.
Nuhu, who said the airlines and the entre aviation industry, were going through a very difficult period, especially at this time, insisted that all the charges collected by NCAA were statutory and in compliance with the Civil Aviation Act 2006.
While saying the airlines were not responsible for the payment of TSC/CSC, but only collect such on behalf of the agencies from the passengers and wondered why the operators would accuse it of engaging in multiple levies, Nuhu denied the claim that the NCAA imposed excess baggage charges on the airlines.
The NCAA DG declared that for any of the charges to be repealed, it would have to go through the National Assembly and must be assented to by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
His words: “NCAA relies 100 per cent on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The 5 per cent TSC paid by passengers is 85 per cent of NCAA revenue, while the other 15 per cent comes from airlines as payment for services provided and they are all cost recovery. We don’t also impose any excess baggage charge on the airlines. I wonder where the operators saw this.
“The airlines have intentionally refused to pay the debts owed us despite the fact that they have collected such from the passengers. The airlines collect money and refuse to transmute such to the right authorities. AON wants us to provide services for free for them. What the airlines are trying to do is to defunct NCAA. You have refused to give us our legitimate money. The fees we are charging the airlines are just cost recovery and we are actually subsidising the airlines.”
On his part, Managing Director, NAMA, Mr Mathew Pwajok, reiterated that the charges of the agency were minimal when compared to other countries around the world while he confirmed that the airlines owed it to the tune of N5 billion.
Also, speaking at the meeting, the managing director of FAAN, Captain Rabiu Yadudu stated that the airlines owed the organization N18 billion even as he denied the claim that it charged the airlines indiscriminately as claimed in its letter.
Responding on behalf of the airlines, Managing Director, Skyjet Airline, Alhaji Kashim Bukar, wondered why the DG NCAA brought the issue to the public glare saying rather than make it a public, the NCAA should have called the operators into a closed door meeting to dwell on the matter.
While particularly apologising over the letter from the AON to the minister raised by the DG NCAA, the Managing Director, Overland Airways and a trustee of AON, Captain Edward Boyo said: “I am a trustee member of AON. On behalf of AON, I to apologise to you on the letter. The letter was not intended to have this effect. Some parts of the letter were inappropriate. We apologise and I want to crave your indulgence to drop the issue”.
Equally, Vice-President of AON, Mr Allen Onyema, while saying he was seeing the letter for the first time and expressed disappointment with some of the contents in it, however regretted that there were factions in AON, which had prevented them from speaking in one voice.
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