Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has concluded plans to increase the Passenger Service Charge (PSC).
The PSC which is the levy collected by the airlines upon purchase of tickets and paid to FAAN after completion of the flight was increased last in 2011.
Presently, while a passenger on domestic flight pays N1,000, a passenger on international flight pays $50.
The charges are used to cover the cost of maintaining common areas in the passenger terminals,
providing passenger information, maintaining security and ensuring that customers use the airport in comfort.
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The latest move by FAAN to increase the charge is however receiving the support of the unions in the aviation sector.
The unions consisting of Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), the National Union
of Pensioners (NUP) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) have given their backing to the plan.
According to the general secretary of the National Union of Pensioners (NUP), FAAN branch, Comrade Emeka Njoku, while saying the hike was overdue for review, he declared that the acquisition and maintenance of current infrastructure at airports across the country was becoming increasingly difficult hence, the only way to survive was for FAAN to adjust upwards its charges to reflect the current value and cost of operation.
He used the occasion to call for the full commercialisation of FAAN to increase revenue
points without any interference from any quarters in order to enable it to render better service to the public.
In the same vein, the National Secretary of ANAP, Abdulrasaq Saidu said the increment
would enable FAAN to meet up with its responsibility of providing qualitative services to passengers.
While describing the increment as justified after eight years since the last review, Saidu
added that factors such as inflation and naira devaluation had made it a necessity, saying:“Airlines and other
airport users have reviewed their charges several times within this period.”
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