‘Fed Govt working on $464m foreign airlines funds’
The Federal Government is working out measures to resolve the $464million belonging to foreign airlines that is trapped in the country, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said yesterday.
The minister, who embarked on a tour of the new Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, said relevant authorities of the government have escalated action on the issue, assuring that soon the matter would be history.
The declaration by Mohammed comes amid threat by some foreign carriers to either cut flight frequencies or suspend flights into the country.
United Arab Emirates carrier – Emirates Airlines had issued a notice of flight suspension from September 1.
Last week, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) slammed the Federal Government for holding over $464million as proceeds of ticket sales by airlines operating into the country.
Mohammed said: “The Federal Government is aware of the issue and action is being taken. I can assure you that relevant authorities are working on it. Very soon the matter will be resolved.
The minister, while describing the new terminal as one of the poster projects of the government in its critical infrastructure drive, said no administration had shown enough commitment to change the narrative about the sector.
He, however, clarified that a $500 million loan been secured from the Chinese Import Export Bank, for five airport terminals in Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Kano would be repaid as programmed.
He said the Federal Government had concluded plans to relocate five foreign carriers into the new terminal effective September 1.
He said out of the eight carriers that indicated interest, five had been cleared, putting into consideration many parameters.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has clarified that no foreign carrier operating into the country is approved to sell their tickets in United States dollars.
Nuhu said the regulator would not grant such approval because it is against the regulations to buy tickets in the currency of another country.
While dismissing the information making the round, he said the NCAA has not increased levies for foreign carriers flying into Nigeria.
He said the Ministry of Aviation has been inundated with calls suggesting increase in levy to foreign carriers, affirming that purveyors of such information were creating distortion in the industry.
He said in the last 10 years, the NCAA has not tampered with levies charged foreign carriers, because the regulator has been operating a cost recovery regime to keep the aviation sector running.
Nuhu said: “No airline is selling tickets in Nigeria in the United States dollars. I just purchased a ticket for an official trip, which was bought in Naira. As the head of the apex civil aviation body in Nigeria, we have not given approval for such. It is not true. Concerning increase in levy to foreign carriers, that is complete misinformation. Even in inflationary times like this, we have been rendering services at subsidized rates. Whenever we contemplate such, we must sit with industry players. ”
On the lingering scarcity and astronomical increase in the price of aviation fuel, the NCAA Director General attributed it to the crisis in global energy, which has been exacerbated by the Russian/ Ukrainian war.
He said: “The problem of aviation fuel is global. But, the local conditions have made it worse for airlines.He said Nigeria was experiencing double jeopardy.
“It is really beyond the NCAA to fix the aviation fuel challenge for local airlines. The price may not come down due to Naira devaluation and other factors. It is really hitting the carriers hard because aviation fuel constitutes a significant component of their operating costs. Until the Dangote Refinery comes on stream next year, the problem may still be there. But, it will mitigate the problem of pricing.”
On the status of the request for importation licence by Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Nuhu said: “It is entirely within the purview of the NNPC. butm i must add that handling aviation fuel is an expensive and delicate venture , because of high quality monitoring that is involved in the storage and distribution to avoid possible contamination.”
On his part, Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),Captain Hamisu Yadudu said expansion work on the aviobriges were ongoing, assuring that the authority is working round the clock to fix and calibrate facilities at the new terminal to attract many operators and investors.
He clarified that FAAN has not increased charges for foreign carriers. He said it was wrong to use the bad experience of some concessionaires to conclude that the authority does not honour agreements.
He said: “Since 2002 FAAN has not increased landing and parking fees for airlines. For domestic carriers the last time such exercise was carried out was in 2012. FAAN has millions of agreements it signed with concessionaires and many entities doing business at and around the airports. FAAN respects agreement, it would be wrong to define us with the bad experience of some people.”
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