Posted by By Everest Amaefule, Abuja on
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has threatened to ground airlines that refuse to settle debt owed the aviation regulatory body.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has threatened to ground airlines that refuse to settle debt owed the aviation regulatory body.
The Presidential Taskforce on the Aviation Industry, headed by Air Marshal Paul Dike, had disclosed that international and local airlines operating in the country owed NCAA N2.6bn.
The debt accumulated from the failure of the airlines to remit five per cent of their ticket sales and cargo charges to the regulatory authority as required by law.
Responding to an email enquiry from our correspondent on Tuesday, the Media Assistant to the NCAA Director-General, Mr. Samuel Adurogboye, said the agency might be forced to employ the last option of grounding the affected airlines.
Although he declined to mention the affected airlines, Adurogboye said the regulatory agency was continually putting pressure on the operators to pay up the five per cent charges, which had been built into the cost of air tickets.
He said, 'Debt collection is an ongoing affair. We are pressing on with the collection drive and the airlines are responding.
'As we are talking now, we are putting pressure on them to pay up to avoid grounding. Grounding is the last option for those that failed to respond.'
Adurogbeye also disclosed that new insurance claims rules for airline passengers in the event of accident were underway.
He said before the new rates were unfolded, the agency was insisting on a flat insurance claim of $100,000 for local passengers as recommended by the Dike panel.
Following a series of air disasters in the country, the issue of insurance claims by relations of victims had become controversial with many cases still unresolved.
The relations of the victims of some of the accidents are currently seeking the intervention of the National Assembly to resolve the impasse between them and the airline operators.
Thepresidential taskforce had said that failure of airlines to provide evidence of compliance on demand of minimum insurance policy should be enough ground to refuse their aircraft from flying in Nigeria's airspace.
The panel added, 'It is necessary for NCAA to require air carriers to provide evidence that they respect at all times the minimum insurance requirements.
'All air carriers and aircraft operators must deposit evidence of compliance with the minimum insurance requirements with NCAA and must carry on board each flight this evidence.'