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•As ground handlers plan 400% hike in charges
By Chinelo Obogo
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has cried out over the harsh operating environment, saying many of its members are finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat and may pack uop if help does not come quickly.
He listed high cost of Jet A1 (aviation fuel), naira devaluation and scarcity of foreign exchange as major challenges choking the operators, saying it has become impossible for them to take their aircraft overseas for maintenance.
The airlines’ nightmare, AON noted, has been further accentuated by the recent proposal made by the Aviation Ground Handling Association of Nigeria (AGHAN) to effect an increase in ground handling charges by 400 percent from March 31, 2024.
The spokesperson of AON, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, who confirmed to Daily Sun that the body received a letter from AGHAN notifying it of their intent to increase domestic ground handling charges and single item rate effective March 1, said the increase would worsen the airlines’ woes.
AON said many of the aircraft in the fleet of their members are due for C-checks overseas but because they have been unable to access foreign exchange, many of these planes are now grounded, making it more difficult to have seamless operations. He said if this negative trend continues, many domestic airlines would have no aircraft left for operations.
Besides the issue of forex scarcity, AON said that they now buy aviation fuel at N1,300 per litre which has caused an astronomical increase in the cost of operations. Okonkwo sought for urgent government intervention, saying that without it, many airlines may collapse.
“Some airlines deposited money with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but they cannot provide us the needed dollars. Airlines do not have special forex allocation and we are at the point where we need oxygen supply. Some airlines are going into coma. The revenues we earn to keep the airlines flying is what we have converted to pay our lessors. Passenger traffic has shrunk.
“We are making losses on factors that are beyond our control. We are not only faced with the problem of scarcity of dollars; even the aviation ecosystem is feeling the heat. Handling companies have increased the cost of their services, airports have increased their charges and those that service the aircraft have also increased the cost of their services. The monies for these payments are coming from the passengers who are already exhausted financially,” he said.
On the proposed increase in ground handling charges, AGHAN in its letter to AON said that the current rates are not sustainable because of the impact of drop in naira against major currencies and impact on purchase of the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and provision of facilities used in servicing the aircraft that are all procured abroad, hence, the base rate for domestic ramp operations as approved by NCAA in 2021 and the new rates proposed by AGHAN are: Aircraft type, B737, current rate N70,000, proposed rate, N400, 000 per flight.
For CRJ, EMB, current rate is N50, 000 and proposed rate is N250,000 per flight. For Dash 8, current rate is N25,000 and proposed rate is N150,000 per flight.
