Onyema calls for urgent government intervention as rising costs, aviation charges and the dispute over the 5% Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge deepen pressure on domestic carriers…….
Nigeria’s aviation industry could be heading towards a major crisis, with Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema warning that several domestic airlines may be forced out of business within the next 30 days unless the Federal Government takes urgent action.
Onyema issued the warning while speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Pathways, Pilgrimage and Destiny, a biography of Med-View Airline Chairman Muneer Bankole.
According to him, airlines are currently operating under conditions that have become increasingly difficult to sustain, with rising financial and operational costs putting severe pressure on operators.
He said the situation had reached what he described as an “existential threat” to the industry, stressing that immediate intervention was necessary to prevent more airlines from shutting down.
“Going into aviation is not a piece of cake. It is an industry that is not very rewarding. It is capital-intensive, yet less rewarding. Today, we are facing a phase that poses existential threats. Except something drastic is done very quickly within the next 30 days, a lot of airlines might go extinct,” Onyema said.
The Air Peace chairman also addressed the controversy surrounding the remittance of the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge, popularly known as TSC.
He rejected the impression that airlines were unwilling to meet their statutory obligations, arguing instead that the major concern was the way the charge is currently collected and the financial burden it places on operators.
Onyema called for greater cooperation between the government and airline operators to develop a collection system that would be easier to administer and less contentious.
As a possible solution, he suggested replacing the percentage-based system with a fixed unit charge. Such an arrangement, he argued, could eliminate disagreements over which components of an airline ticket should be subject to the levy.
The chairman’s comments come amid growing concerns over the financial health of domestic airlines, many of which are already struggling with high operating expenses and limited room for profitability.
Beyond the TSC controversy, Onyema pointed to several other challenges threatening the survival of Nigerian carriers.
He listed high borrowing costs, inadequate aviation infrastructure, bird strikes and multiple operating charges among the problems putting additional strain on airlines.
He also criticised threats by labour unions to picket airlines over the dispute, describing such action as unprecedented and inappropriate.
According to him, airlines have been engaging directly with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Ministry of Aviation on the issues affecting the sector and should not be subjected to pressure from labour unions over matters involving statutory charges and government agencies.
“If they picket any airline, others will go because there’s no need for that. There is nowhere in the world that government agencies use unions to talk about issues of debt,” he said.
Onyema warned that the current difficulties could further reduce the number of indigenous airlines operating in Nigeria.
He noted that more than 50 Nigerian airlines had collapsed over the years, despite the fact that many of their owners had built successful businesses in other sectors.
The aviation entrepreneur urged the Federal Government to move quickly to address the underlying problems before more carriers are forced to exit the market.
He expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu understood the importance of indigenous airlines to Nigeria’s aviation sector and would support measures aimed at keeping domestic operators in business.
For Onyema, the priority should be policies that make it possible for Nigerian airlines to survive and grow rather than measures that add to their already heavy financial burden.
With airlines facing mounting costs on several fronts, the coming weeks could prove critical for the survival of some domestic carriers as the industry awaits concrete intervention from the government.
