Monday, May 25, 2026 - Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed all its directorates to withhold services from 11 domestic airlines until they settle their financial obligations.
In a circular issued by Director, Finance and Accounts,
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Olufemi Odukoya, the regulator listed
affected airlines to include Air Peace Limited, Ibom Air Limited, Arik Air
Limited, United Nigeria Airlines, Umza Air, NGEagle Airline, Max Air Limited,
Caverton Helicopters, Overland Airways, Rano Air and ValueJet.
The memo, titled: ‘Updated List of Airlines on
No-Pay-No-Service,’ stated that the Director-General of the NCAA, Capt Chris
Najomo, directed that no directorate should render any service to the affected
airlines without financial clearance from the Directorate of Finance and
Accounts.
Analysts yesterday berated the airlines for making
themselves sources of revenue leakages for the government.
An industry expert said: “It is not only justified, it is
long overdue. What makes this situation particularly disturbing is that these
funds do not belong to the airlines in the first place. The five per cent
Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) is a statutory levy paid by passengers and collected
by airlines in trust for the regulator under the laws establishing the NCAA.
Once collected, such monies should be remitted promptly and transparently, not
retained to finance operational shortfalls or balance struggling books.
“To collect these statutory charges from passengers and
deliberately fail to remit them amounts to a grave abuse of public trust and
corporate responsibility. No airline has the legal or moral authority to
appropriate funds meant for aviation safety oversight, consumer protection,
regulatory efficiency, and sectoral sustainability. The argument that remitting
these obligations could worsen the financial condition of airlines is untenable
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