The federal government has rolled out measures to ease mounting pressure on domestic airlines, with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirming that operators may receive discounts on debts owed to aviation agencies.
Keyamo said the level of concession would be determined by Bola Tinubu, who has directed that a formal request be submitted to him without delay for immediate consideration.
The minister also disclosed that the President has approved plans to set up a committee to review multiple taxes, levies and charges embedded in domestic airfares, with the aim of reducing costs for airlines and passengers.
The development followed a meeting with the Airline Operators of Nigeria and other stakeholders, after operators signalled plans to suspend flight operations and increase ticket prices over the rising cost of Jet A1 fuel.Keyamo said he had briefed the President ahead of the meeting and received clear instructions to act swiftly.
He said, “Before this meeting, I had the privilege of meeting Mr. President to brief him, and he mandated us to quickly bring a formal request to him first thing tomorrow morning.
“The request he will consider and grant is a generous discount on the debts the airlines are owing aviation agencies like the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.
“Mr. President specifically told me not to wait for a council memo. He said I should bring the letter as early as possible. The percentage of discounts would be decided by him because he is deeply concerned about what is happening.”
On the planned review of ticket charges, Keyamo said, “The second request Mr. President has asked us to bring is for him to set up a committee to address the issues of levies, taxes and fees on domestic tickets once and for all. He will give them a deadline to report on the charges we can remove for now to give respite to Nigerians.”
He added that the President is expected to meet with airline operators to discuss broader issues, including access to financing.
On the petroleum side, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, who was represented by Permanent Secretary Patience Onyekunle, said further engagement with oil marketers would take place.
“At this point, since this is an urgent matter, there is agreement that the marketers will be invited for further deliberations. Hopefully, by tomorrow, we would have resolved some of these issues,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Air Peace chief executive Allen Onyema called for more extensive relief, including a full waiver of debts owed by airlines.
“We appreciate Mr. President for coming to our rescue, but instead of deciding a discount, we are asking for a total waiver of all the debts we owe, and a suspension of further payments until the situation stabilises,” Onyema said.
He warned that operators are under severe financial strain, saying, “We threatened to shut down not because we wanted to, but because we had no money left. We cannot continue borrowing just to pay for fuel while neglecting maintenance and other critical obligations.”
Onyema also criticised the sharp rise in aviation fuel prices.
“If crude oil rises by 10 per cent, the by-product should rise proportionately. But in Nigeria, we have seen increases of over 300 per cent. The airlines are bleeding,” he said.
He urged the government to support long-term financing for the sector.
“Globally, airlines access funding at about three per cent, but in Nigeria it is between 30 and 35 per cent. That is not sustainable. The Bank of Industry should be adequately funded to provide single-digit loans to operators,” he said.
He further called for scrutiny of fuel pricing, saying, “The marketers must explain how prices rose so sharply. Even local suppliers are surprised, yet the cost keeps going up.”