By Our Correspondent
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace Limited, Dr Allen Onyema, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s intervention in the controversy surrounding the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) could rescue Nigeria’s struggling airline industry.
Onyema, who is also Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), described Tinubu as a “listening President,” saying the aviation sector would experience significant transformation if the President had the opportunity to hear directly from airline operators about the challenges driving up the cost of doing business in the country.
He made the remarks on Thursday in Lagos while delivering the keynote address at the 30th Annual Conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), themed, “Towards a Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands with Sector Growth.”
Onyema said Nigeria’s designation by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as one of the most difficult and expensive environments in which to operate an airline could be reversed if the President was adequately briefed on the burden created by multiple taxes, levies and charges.
According to him, the existing system requiring airlines to remit five per cent of every ticket sold to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was placing significant financial pressure on operators and contributing to the high mortality rate of Nigerian airlines.
He therefore called for the replacement of the percentage-based TSC with a fixed charge per ticket, arguing that the arrangement would provide airlines with greater predictability and improve the sustainability of the sector.
“What will put an end to the high mortality rate of Nigerian operators is when there is an amicable tax and charges system that protects the airlines, aviation agencies and the travelling public in a win-win situation,” he said.
The Air Peace boss cited the Federal Government’s decision to exempt airlines from the four per cent Free on Board (FOB) levy introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service as evidence of what presidential intervention could achieve when the implications of a policy were properly communicated.
Onyema said Customs Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi, after being informed about the potential impact of the levy on airlines, took the matter to the Presidency, resulting in the charge being waived for airlines within hours.
“I was there in the Presidential Villa with the Customs boss. This President acted swiftly and waived it for airlines within hours of being made to understand the would-be effects of such a charge on the viability of indigenous Nigerian airlines,” he said.
“That is the power of listening. President Tinubu is a listening President.”
He said the President had yet to hear directly from airline operators about the factors responsible for Nigeria’s poor ranking by IATA.
“The problem is that the President has not heard from us on why his country was so described by IATA, who equally compared Nigeria to Afghanistan,” Onyema said.
“When he does see us, aviation will flourish in this country. It will benefit the agencies, the government and the flying public.”
Onyema warned that Nigerian airlines could not achieve sustainable growth while burdened by multiple taxes, levies and charges, stressing that reforms were urgently needed to create a more viable operating environment.
He maintained that converting the TSC from a percentage of ticket value to a fixed amount would benefit airlines, aviation agencies and passengers while ensuring government revenue remained sustainable.
The airline chief also pointed to the number of Nigerian airlines that had exited the market as evidence of the urgent need to reform the sector, noting that IATA had repeatedly identified Nigeria as one of the most expensive countries in which to operate an airline.
Onyema further recalled that following the removal of the four per cent FOB levy, he pledged to create 1,000 jobs for Nigerians.
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According to him, about 78,000 Nigerians applied for the positions, with 1,000 young Nigerians eventually employed in fulfilment of the pledge.
He urged the Federal Government to urgently review the aviation tax and charges framework, saying government revenue objectives must be balanced with the survival, competitiveness and growth of indigenous airlines.
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