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By Chinelo Obogo
The joint Committees of Aviation in the Senate and the House of Representatives, have rebuked domestic airlines for incessant flight delays and cancellations, saying the National Assembly will soon come up with legislation that will empower the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to grant permits to any willing foreign airline to carry out domestic operations.
During an oversight visit to the NCAA headquarters in Lagos, Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Smart Adeyemi, said domestic operators don’t care about the effects of protracted flight delays and cancellations on passengers, hence, the joint committee have decided to put in place measures that would empower the NCAA to grant an operating license to any of the foreign airlines that would be willing and able to deliver on prompt and safe air lifting of Nigerians to all their domestic destinations.
He also said that airlines’ performances records with the NCAA would be released to the public and a caveat on which one is healthy or not would accompany such public information. He said these measures are necessary so that Nigerian travellers would be treated with dignity.
Responding, the Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, said the complaints by the legislators against domestic operators are well-founded and pledged that henceforth, the agency will be more firm against infractions by the airlines especially those that concern consumer abuse.
“We will take the issue of flight delays we take very seriously. I can assure that we will be looking at the schedule of the airlines, looking at the number of aircraft in their fleet, we will look at their maintenance programme; the number of the flight crew so we can determine the optimum number each airline can do as that is a contributory factor for the delays,” Nuhu said.
In a related development, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, revealed that the ongoing terminal construction at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, is 98% done and would likey be operational before the end of March 2022, the has revealed.
Speaking during the working visit of the National Assembly Committees of Aviation, Yadudu revealed that the agency has proposed a revenue budget of N188 billion for the year 2022, an increase of 50.4%, compared to that of 2021, which was N125.4 billion.
He said though FAAN has no operating surplus, in December 2021, it remitted N16.7 billion to the Federation Account as contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, despite the effect of the pandemic during this period and that it has shifted its focus from the aeronautical sources of revenue to the non-aeronautical, in order improve its revenue performance.
Yadudu also said that the Authority is still faced with the challenge of debt recovery, especially debts owed by Arik Air, which he said is a significant portion of the Authority’s debt portfolio but that henceforth, sanctions would be imposed for non-payment for various services rendered to private airport terminals.
“We commend the effort of the Committees on Aviation with respect to intervention so far in the recovery of Arin debts, inherited by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). However, we need further assistance to bring the issue to a logical conclusion as the huge debts are still outstanding,” he said.
