The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, has dismissed claims that domestic airlines failed to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), saying operators complied with an agreed repayment plan before the recent labour dispute.
Okonkwo, who is also spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said this on Thursday at the 30th annual conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos.
The conference has as its theme, ‘Towards a Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands with Sector Growth.’
According to him, airlines had met their financial obligations to the government until the aviation sector came under severe pressure from rising operational costs, particularly aviation fuel.
He said the AON had raised concerns over the burden of regulatory charges and appealed to the Federal Government for temporary relief during the crisis.
‘Before February this year, there were no payment problems. All airlines were paying. The AON issue only became a problem because of the Gulf crisis.
‘We wrote to the President, explaining that we could no longer pay these charges. We requested either a complete suspension of charges or temporary relief during the aviation crisis, and the request was granted. The President agreed and waived 30 per cent,’ he said.
Okonkwo said the presidential waiver was followed by meetings between airline operators, the NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation to establish a repayment arrangement for outstanding obligations.
He explained that the NCAA directed airlines to pay 10 per cent of their legacy debts within a specified period, after which the balance would be settled through instalments.
According to him, individual airlines subsequently met with the NCAA’s Director of Finance to agree on repayment schedules.
‘The airlines complied with this directive. The director met with operators in Lagos and Abuja, and we developed a payment plan.
‘This plan was in place. When you have a payment plan in place, it does not mean you will default. We were making regular payments according to the agreement we had with the NCAA until we heard about the labour union problem,’ he said.
To demonstrate its commitment to the arrangement, Okonkwo said United Nigeria Airlines established joint accounts with the NCAA in Nigerian banks, allowing the regulatory agency to access funds directly.
‘At United Nigeria, to ensure no issues, we opened joint accounts with NCAA at Nigerian banks. The account was structured so NCAA could withdraw funds directly without asking us,’ he said.
The airline chief also faulted the continued imposition of the five per cent TSC, arguing that operators were not receiving commensurate value for the charges paid.
He said airlines already bore significant operational and regulatory costs, including expenses incurred when NCAA officials travelled abroad to inspect aircraft.
‘Beyond what we pay, we do not receive adequate value,’ he said, insisting that the demand for the removal of the five per cent charge should continue.
On the recent labour dispute involving aviation unions, Okonkwo acknowledged the right of unions to advocate for workers’ welfare but said the manner in which the dispute was handled at the airport was unacceptable.
He also noted that airlines remained among the better-paying sectors in the country.
Okonkwo commended the President of the Aviation Roundtable and aviation journalists for speaking out against the incident, saying their reactions helped to draw attention to the concerns within the sector.