Airline operators reject proposed levy increase

• The agency plans to increase en-route navigational charges from N2,000 and N6,000 to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight
  

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The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has rejected a proposed increase in levy charges by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), warning that such a move will cripple the already struggling industry.

NAMA’s Director General, Umar Farouk, announced on Friday that airline charges would rise by 800 per cent. The agency plans to increase en-route navigational charges from N2,000 and N6,000 to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight. The cost for extending service hours will also jump from N50,000 to N450,000, representing an 800 per cent increase per extension. Farouk stated that the increment is necessary to recover the cost of diesel and other logistics.

This hike could lead to airfares skyrocketing by 800 per cent.

AON spokesman, Obiora Okonkwo, deemed the proposal unacceptable. “We are going through a lot and they are talking about taxes that are already too much and increasing them in multiple folds. Unless they want this industry to have a premature death. It is already on oxygen support. We are sure that we’re not going to accept that and it is unfair for NAMA to increase this rate and think it is what the industry needs now. They should use the much we are already paying to improve facility and infrastructure,” he said.

Aviation expert Captain John Ojikutu described the development as “institutional corruption,” calling the charges needless and fraudulent. He suggested other agencies within the Ministry of Aviation should share the five per cent revenue taken by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

He said, “Instead of this raise, they should all rather go and share rationally from the five per cent taken by the NCAA. What is the NCAA doing with the five per cent? NCAA, FAAN, NAMA, Nimet and this other one; the five federal aviation agencies should share this money rationally. Why is the NCAA taking 53 per cent, giving NAMA 23 per cent, and the other one taking six per cent or so, this is all nonsense. These are what they should be looking into instead of NAMA increasing the charge. They will kill the airlines and nobody is going to travel again. The government should help.”

Ojikutu also suggested that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should review landing charges, noting that fees in Lagos and Abuja should not be the same as those in Port Harcourt and Calabar. He warned, “I have told them to categorise these things, else, they will kill these airlines. NCAA is making close to N100 billion annually. Who should benefit more if not NAMA whose duty is the safety of the flying passengers.”