The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has denied claims that domestic carriers are indebted to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The AON, in a statement, described the claims as “factually inaccurate,” noting that all cost recovery services rendered by the NCAA to domestic airline operators are paid for in advance on a cash-before-service basis.
The agency insisted that airlines fully pay for all regulatory services before they are rendered.
The NCAA had placed 11 domestic airline operators on a “no-pay-no-service” sanction list over outstanding financial obligations and instructed all its directorates to withhold services from the affected airlines pending financial clearance.
However, the NCAA suspended enforcement of the directive following consultations with industry stakeholders.
In the statement, AON further pointed out that the NCAA issues invoices for every regulatory service it provides, including validation of crew operating licences, aircraft inspections, documentation renewals and other services within its regulatory mandate.
“Operators are then required to settle all such invoices in advance, and compliance is strictly observed before the NCAA renders any regulatory service. In practice, no domestic airline in Nigeria receives NCAA regulatory services without first making the full payment of invoices issued to it by the NCAA. This long-standing policy and procedure remains firmly in place,” the statement added.
The airline operators noted that what the NCAA described as “outstanding charges” relates solely to the five percent ticket sales charge (TSC), which it said differs from regulatory service fees.
AON described the charge as a tax imposed on passengers and said airlines merely serve as collection agents.
The association called on the federal government to amend the Civil Aviation Act to allow the NCAA collect its fees directly from passengers rather than through airlines.
