The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) om Tuesday revealed it is being owed ticket and cargo service charges put at about N22.7 billion by the domestic airlines as at July 2022.
Precisely, the regulatory authority is owed N19 billion and $7.8 million by the airlines.
As a result of this, the agency has issued a one-month ultimatum to the airlines to settle the debts.
The ticket service charge (TSC) is five per cent that is deducted from the cost of ticket paid by each passenger of the airline, just as the cargo service charge (CSC) is five per cent charged on every cargo freighted from the airport.
The Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, disclosed this during a meeting held with indigenous airlines and ground handling companies in Abuja.
Nuhu warned that if the debts are not paid in the next few weeks the agency would find it difficult to meet its obligations.
The Director General who gave the operators one-month ultimatum, directed them to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCAA that would stipulate their respective repayment plans.
The five per cent TSC and CSC are collected by NCAA and shared with other aviation agencies, including the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
During the meeting it was also disclosed that the airlines also owed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency about N18 billion and N5 billion, respectively, including what they referred to as legacy debts, which are debts owed years ago by both existing airlines and ones that have gone extinct.
The airlines owe FAAN landing and parking charges, while they are also hugely indebted to NAMA in terminal and navigational charges.
Also during the meeting, Nuhu expressed disappointment over a letter, which emanated from the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), signed by its President, Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa and dated August 8, 2022, addressed to the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.
The letter had accused the agencies, especially the NCAA of muscling out the operators through multiple charges.
Nuhu who noted that the airlines and the entire aviation industry were going through very difficult period, insisted that all the charges collected by NCAA were statutory and in compliance with the Civil Aviation Act 2006. According to him, 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 further debunked the claim that the NCAA imposed excess baggage charge on the airlines, stressing that compared to what Nigeria’s neighbour, Ghana, collects as charges from airlines, that of the regulatory authority was far too small.
He explained 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.
Nuhu frowned at the fact that out of the five per cent TSC/CSC, the agencies still remits 25 per cent of their revenues to the Consolidated Revenue Account created by the Federal Government and advised the operators to always crosscheck their facts before going to the public.
“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.”
In his contribution, the Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Mathew Pwajok, reiterated that the charges of the agency were minimal when compared to other countries around the world, disclosing that the airlines owed NAMA over N5 billion for services rendered to them over the years.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu also disclosed that the airlines owe the agency N18 billion and debunked the claim that it charges the airlines indiscriminately as contained in the aforementioned letter to the Minister.
He declared that FAAN was not imposing any new burden on the airlines, stressing that its landing and parking charges for international operators were last reviewed in 1998, while for the local airlines, it was reviewed last in 2002.
He also said there was the need for the charges to be reviewed by the agency, stressing that within the period, the airlines had reviewed their air tickets on numerous occasions.
Responding, the Managing Director, Skyjet Airline, Alhaji Kashim Bukar, wondered why the Director General NCAA brought the issue to the public.
He said rather than make it a public issue, the NCAA should have called the operators into a closed-door meeting to discuss the issue.
However, the Managing Director, Overland Airways, Capt. Edward Boyo and a trustee of AON apologised to the NCAA for the letter.
“I’m a trustee member of AON. On behalf of AON, I hope to apologise to you on the letter. The letter wasn’t 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,” he said.
Besides, the Vice President, AON, Mr. Allen Onyema said he was seeing the letter for the first time and expressed disappointment with some of its content.
He regretted that there was a faction in AON, which he said prevents the association from speaking in one voice.
Onyema agreed that he was at the meeting with the Ministry of Finance and Aviation where the issue of skyrocketing price of Jet A1 was discussed, but insisted that no one maligned the image of NCAA or any aviation agencies at the meeting.
In the meantime, Delta Air Lines yesterday issued a statement, stating that it would from October 4, 2022, suspend flight operations between JFK Airport, New York and Lagos.
Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
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