NCAA Gives Airlines Operators 30-Day Ultimatum Or Face Sanctions

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA has threatened to shut down the domestic airlines in the country if they fail to pay the debt they are owing within the next 30 days.

The NCAA says that ''despite receiving money from their customers, airlines still owe the government N19 billion and $7.6 million and have refused to pay. It says that airlines have instead launched a campaign of calumny and falsehoods against it.

According to the NCAA Director, Captain Musa Nuhu in a statement at a meeting with the local operators, "The airlines must enter an MoU on how they will pay their debts in latest by the end of September, 2022 or their license will be suspended at the expiration of the deadline."

He said, "This situation is crippling finances and pitching the Authority against the Federal Government as a government-owned revenue-generating agency, following the dire financial position of the Federal Government."

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance Zainab by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), which is an umbrella body for all the airlines operating in Nigeria said the scarcity of foreign exchange and aviation fuel scarcity, are choking the airlines.

The AOC had accused the NCAA of imposing multiple charges on its members. Mr. Nuhu said the accusations by the airlines were "unfair, unfounded and smacked of blackmail."

He further stated that all airlines are indebted to the NCAA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Likewise, he said the AON accusations were false when comparing the charges between Nigeria and Ghana, and this shows that Ghana charges over 100 percent higher in most of the charges.

"The NCAA will also review its charges higher as the Authority hasn't reviewed charges in about 13 years in spite of the rising cost of service provision, " Mr. Nuhu added.

He explicated that the airlines are faced with challenges just as the aviation agencies are, due to the fact that they bank on forex to train and procure critical equipment the airline needs to operate safely.

He advised that the NCAA DG should resolve the issues with the AON in private in order to avoid" washing their dirty linen in public" when the AON speaks.

"Yes, airlines owe money but the airlines are also deeply challenged because they can't get fuel or access dollars freely. They buy dollars in the black market. We must come together to resolve our problems," he stated.