The federal government on Thursday assured Nigerians of a drop in airfares.
The government also disclosed plans to roll out measures to curb illegal charter operations across the country.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who disclosed this during the third ministerial press briefing said the federal government has lost billions of naira to the illegal charter operations, which date back 40 years.
The minister, while stating the federal government’s commitment to tackle the practice, revealed that the reforms to be unveiled would mandate regulators to publish the names of airlines that are approved to fly, proper documentation and manifest of those on board the chartered flight.
He also said the control tower would not clear any flight for takeoff without proper identification of the crew members and passengers.
He noted that the poor regulation of their operations was partly responsible for relevant authorities to get the identity of some passengers and crew members during crashes.
The minister has also assured that there would be a drop in airfares soon with the signing of the Cape Town Convention and the Dublin Conference the ministry attended earlier in the year.
On the high cost of tickets, he said: “We have domestic tickets and we have international tickets. I talked about domestic tickets and the fact that we don’t have access to lease aircraft at very cheap costs. We only could go for the very expensive option of leasing aircraft or buying aircraft. We are addressing that and we are going to see results very soon with the Cape Town Convention and the Dublin Conference we went to, the deals are coming in, so we’ll see results there.
“But the international ones, one of the major reasons they used to give is that their monies were trapped in Nigeria. There was a time when we came to office, there were airlines that had a three-year backlog, not just one year, not two years, three-year backlog of funds trapped in Nigeria. We had the Naira in the CBN, that’s the sales of tickets.
“When their agents sell tickets to you in Naira, those Nairas are evacuated and dropped in the CBN. CBN will now get the dollar equivalent and repatriate. That is how it is done, so that the tickets will be sold in Naira. So all of these tickets were sold in Naira for three years plus, four years, but the CBN had no liquidity, no dollar equivalent to send to these foreign airlines. So the funds were trapped.
“Because of the deft policies of this government on the withdrawal of subsidy and floating of Naira, liquidity began to rise and that’s why I was thanking the president for the unusual attention he paid to aviation.
One of the first things the president did when liquidity began to rise in the CBN was clearing the backlog of the trapped funds for aviation. $893million, almost a billion dollars, was cleared of trapped funds. And so we called the international airlines, what they used to do was; if you want to buy international tickets, you will see business class Z grade, J grade but it’s all the same. One can be N2m cheaper than the other. Those ones, they open it for countries that they know that once they sell the ticket, they can get their money immediately. But they now open only the high fare for Nigerian passengers since the last three to four years.
“They said because they were taking into account inflationary rates of the money that will be trapped, they don’t know when they will get the money back. So they were building on top of it, inflationary rates, that by the time they want to get the money back, the Naira may have collapsed.
“So instead of selling a ticket for N2million, they will sell it for N7m, whereas Ghana will sell it for that price. This was an issue of policy.
“Bola Tinubu being very smart on this, he cleared that first. And so we called recently and they have been enjoying this high price because Nigerians were paying. So by the time we cleared this thing, they were still enjoying the high fares. We said, no, you cannot continue to enjoy it. We have cleared the backlog. So you cannot continue to open up the high tickets only to Nigerian passengers.
“So, that discussion is going on now and the NCAA is championing that. I think they held a parley with them on that and with one or two other factors in terms of our high taxation; our airports they said is the highest in Africa.
“So, FAAN, NAMA and the ministry are looking at them to see what we can do about it. Because it’s not my call. We have to talk to the minister of finance. So don’t look at the aviation minister because I’m not in charge of revenue. I have no right to say I will review revenue.
“So I have no right to say the aviation sector, we are cutting down this revenue, cutting that revenue. These were things we met on the ground. So it’s good I just say it out.
“The taxes imposed in our airports and in our aviation, they said it’s one of the highest in Africa. And the airlines coming in, they figure that in too, because they have to pay and that still goes down to the passengers. So it’s a holistic problem we are looking at and we are going to come to that. But I just want to be honest and frank about that but one major one has been tackled, which is the clearing of the backlog of the foreign trapped funds.
“As part of measures to boost the economy of the country and encourage local operators, the Minister also said plans are ongoing to introduce the FlyNigeria Act initiative.
On the need to curb illegal charter operations, the Minister said: “The issue of the closure of GAT is a recommendation so far by the Task Force and like I said, we may not go that far but we will roll out measures to curb illegal charter or private jets and the activities they engage in and when we roll them out, please, nobody should complain.
“If you are a big man, don’t go to the airport to take a private jet if you don’t see the list of those jets that are licensed to fly and carry passengers because if anything happens to you, we will not be responsible.
“The control tower will not clear you to fly unless the pilot files in a manifest of those people on that aircraft, whether you are a big man or not. We are rolling out many reforms. They will ground the aircraft until you file a flight plan with the passengers in that aircraft and their ID card because that is what is obtainable in commercial flights. They compare ID cards with your ticket presented, so why can’t we have the same in charted flights or are the big men better than me and you? They must also bring their ID cards.”
On the FlyNigeria initiative, Keyamo said: “The Fly Nigeria Act will mandate the prioritization of Nigerian flag carriers for government-funded travel, a bold move to support local airlines and stimulate economic growth. We have 13 active private airlines in Nigeria and
there is need to support local airlines by making policies to support their growth”
The Minister also stated that his diplomatic efforts led to the resumption of the suspended Emirates flights to Nigeria on October 1st, 2024.
He added that his strategic meeting with Emirates Executives facilitated a Codesharing Agreement with local airlines, adding that Emirates has successfully entered into a Codesharing agreement with Air Peace.
He expressed hope that more codesharing agreements will come on board soon.
The Minister while admitting that there were challenges in the sector, highlighted areas he would focus on to surmount the challenges.
He said: “Development of a Master plan for our major airports to transform them into proper hubs and aerotropolis and reviewing the concession process of major airports to ensure it is more transparent to deliver world-class infrastructure.
“We will support and empower our local operators (as we did with Air Peace) to compete with other international airlines on more international routes and facilitate the acquisition of aircraft under the dry lease agreement.
“Training and re-training of Aviation Professionals (Accident investigators, Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers) and also address issues relating to flight delays and cancellations.
“We will review our BASA to favour our local operators and the establishment of a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Centre. We are in an advanced stage of discussions with investors across the world who are willing to do this through PPP.
“We are also making conscious and gradual efforts towards embracing eco-friendly practices and green technologies in line with ICAO’s long-term Global Aspirational Goal of net-zero carbon emission in the aviation sector.
“We will rehabilitate some airports and airstrips and collaborate with state government to improve State Airports infrastructure”.
