The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies to work with airlines on repayment plans for outstanding statutory charges following Tuesday’s disruption of flight operations by aviation unions.
Mr Keyamo gave the directive on Thursday after convening an emergency meeting with airline operators, aviation unions and heads of aviation agencies to address the dispute that led to the industrial action at some airports.
The meeting resolved that the agencies should obtain payment schedules from airlines, taking into account the airlines’ operating costs and current economic realities.
The development comes two days after aviation unions picketed Air Peace operations in Lagos and Abuja, disrupting flights and leaving passengers stranded.
The unions had accused airlines of failing to remit the statutory five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) collected from passengers, while also alleging that some airlines were restricting workers from joining trade unions.
