FG moves to review N11,000 flight charge as airlines kick

By Nnasom David

The Director-General of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Farouk Umar, has warned that the N11,000 complaint presently imposed connected airlines per formation is nary longer realistic, fixed the rising outgo of maintaining aviation infrastructure.

Speaking successful Abuja connected Tuesday astatine a acme convened by the House of Representatives Committee connected Aviation, Umar noted that the fee, unchanged since 2008, is charged per formation alternatively than per passenger.

He gave the illustration of a Lagos-to-Abuja travel wherever an hose pays lone N11,000 to NAMA careless of the fig of passengers onboard.

“In 2008, we were collecting N11,000 per flight. Today, system tickets outgo betwixt N150,000 and N200,000, yet the complaint to NAMA has remained the same. This is unsustainable,” Umar said.

He explained that NAMA operates arsenic a cost-recovery bureau and indispensable recoup investments made successful modern navigation, communication, and surveillance systems. According to him, inflation, speech complaint volatility, and planetary proviso concatenation disruptions person sharply accrued the outgo of procuring and maintaining these facilities.

“We support upgrading our systems to support Nigeria astatine par with planetary aviation standards, but airlines are inactive paying peanuts. It cannot proceed this way,” helium added.

Umar revealed that respective attempts to person airlines of the request for a interest accommodation person met stiff resistance.

He criticised operators for hiking summons fares to bespeak their ain rising costs portion opposing a akin determination by NAMA.

“The airlines person not been fair. They rise fares erstwhile the system changes but garbage to spot that we besides look the aforesaid pressures. Safety is astatine hazard if we cannot retrieve costs,” helium warned.

The Chairman of the House Committee connected Aviation, Abdullahi Garba, represented by his lawman Festus Akingbaso, stressed the value of collaboration and transparency successful resolving backing challenges. He assured stakeholders that the National Assembly would enactment NAMA and different agencies if they show ratio and accountability.

The station FG moves to reappraisal N11,000 formation complaint arsenic airlines kick appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.