FG to waive airlines debts

President Tinubu has announced plans to waive debts owed by domestic airlines to aviation agencies and to scrap multiple levies, taxes, and fees on domestic tickets, as part of measures to cushion the impact of the ongoing Jet A1 fuel crisis.

Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo made the disclosure during a meeting with airline operators and oil marketers today in Abuja. The meeting was convened to address the astronomical rise in the cost of Jet A1 fuel.

Keyamo said, “I had the privilege of meeting Mr. President to brief him about the meeting, and Mr. President mandated us to quickly bring a request to him. The first request that he will consider and grant is a generous discount on the debts the airlines are owing the aviation agencies, NAMA, FAAN, NCAA, and so on and so forth.

“The percentage of discounts and all that Mr. President will decide, he is so concerned about what is happening. He asked me in particular to express his deep appreciation to the airline operators. He knows the conditions under which we operate.

The minister added that the president would also consider broader reforms to reduce the burden of multiple charges on domestic air travel.

“The second request Mr. President has asked that we should bring for him to consider fully and grant is that he wants to set up a committee to address the issue of levies, taxes, and fees on domestic tickets once and for all. This request has been on for a long time. So Mr. President will put the team together, and he’ll give them a deadline to report to him as quickly as possible on the government fees and charges and levies that we can remove from domestic tickets for now to give respite to Nigerians who are also buying their tickets.

“And of course, he’ll consider a date for the airline operators to meet him one-on-one for the other more robust discussions regarding access to capital and all of that,” he said.

Responding on behalf of the airline operators, the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, asked Minister Keyamo to tell the president not to decide the percentage of discount to give the airline operators, but to rather approve a total waiver of all the debts they owe.

Onyema also asked President Tinubu for a suspension of further payment by airline operators until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.

Onyema also commended President Tinubu for being a businessman president who is very, very responsive, recalling how he removed the 4 per cent Free on Board (FOB) for airlines within 24 hours.

Additionally, Onyema asked President Tinubu to look into the cost of acquisition of funding for airlines. He said all over the world, they acquire at 3 per cent.

“In Nigeria, we acquire at 30 to 35 per cent. This is killing. That’s why airlines owe FAAN, owe NCAA, owe everybody, because we are the sacrificial lambs. It’s not a lucrative business. So we ask Mr. President to please fund the Bank of Industry.

“That is the only bank that is still doing single-digit or at least 10 per cent interest to airlines. But they don’t have funds now. Mr. President should please help us to fund the Bank of Industry very well because that is another way of helping us in the long run and permanently,” he added.