The Vice President of the Airlines Operators of Nigeria and Founder/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to establish a committee to review taxes and charges in the aviation sector, warning that excessive levies have contributed to the collapse of several Nigerian airlines.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Monday, Onyema described some of the charges imposed on airlines as burdensome and unsustainable, particularly the five per cent passenger service charge collected by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Onyema said, “One of the truths we want to tell Mr President is regarding this five per cent passenger charge collected by the NCAA. When we speak, they will say passengers are the ones paying, but we refuse to accept that. If I charge N100,000, NCAA takes five per cent of that money. We did not set up the business with them.”
He urged the President to set up an independent aviation taxes and charges review committee comprising technocrats, aviation experts and industry operators. “We want the President to set up an aviation charges and taxes review committee. It is very important so that it doesn’t look like we are fooling the government.
