The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has threatened to suspend domestic airlines over NGN45.93 billion naira (USD108.8 million) owed in aviation charges.

"The airlines must enter an MoU [Memorandum of Understanding] on how they will pay their debts in the next 30 days from August 30, 2022, or their licenses will be suspended at the expiration of the deadline," NCAA Director-General Musa Nuhu told local airline representatives at a stakeholders' meeting in Abuja on August 30.

The regulator claims the airlines owe it NGN19 billion (USD45 million) and USD7.6 million (NGN3.2 billion) in unremitted aviation taxes from ticket sales. They also owe NGN5.73 billion (USD13.5 million) to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and NGN18 billion (USD42.6 million) to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

"This situation is crippling finances and pitching the authority against the Federal Government as a government-owned revenue-generating agency, following the dire financial position of the Federal Government," Nuhu was quoted by the Premium Times newspaper.

He was responding to a letter of complaint by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed over the multiple charges on its members, which, alongside foreign exchange and aviation fuel scarcity, were choking the industry. Nuhu said the AON's accusation was "unfair, unfounded and smacked of blackmail".

"The NCAA will also review its charges higher as the authority hasn't reviewed [its] charges in about 13 years in spite of rising costs of service provision, "he warned.

Nuhu pointed out that ticket- and cargo sales charges were statutory and enshrined in the Civil Aviation Act of 2006, reported Punch newspaper. He said neither the NCAA, FAAN, nor NAMA was funded by the Federal Government but operated on revenue from the aviation sector. He said passenger ticket sales charges contributed almost 85% of the NCAA's income, while airlines contributed less than 15% in service fees.

Responding to the NCAA, AON Vice President Allen Onyema, in a statement, said the stakeholder meeting had ended on an amicable note with everyone agreeing to work together to address the debts. "It is pertinent to point out that some of these debts are owed by some airlines that are no longer in existence," he said. The AON urged its members with bad debts to engage the government agencies and put forward repayment plans.