NCAA, experts clash over 5% air ticket charge

By Dickson Omobola

Stakeholders in the country’s aviation sector have deepened calls for a review of the sharing formula of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge/Cargo Sales Charge, TSC/CSC, saying the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, required a larger share of the revenue to upgrade air navigation infrastructure.

This development comes as the NCAA expressed fears over the issue and warned that any reduction in its statutory allocation could weaken aviation safety oversight and regulatory effectiveness.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja recently, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, said while NAMA was established as a self-sustaining agency, the NCAA relied largely on the TSC to fund its statutory regulatory functions.

Meanwhile, under the revenue sharing formula contained in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act, 2022, proceeds from the five per cent TSC/CSC collected on passenger tickets and cargo are distributed among the NCAA, which receives 56 per cent; NAMA 22 per cent; the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, nine per cent; Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, seven per cent; and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, six per cent.