The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has called for the suspension of automation of revenue remittance by airlines to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) until the parameters that constitute the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge are clearly and properly defined.
AON Chairman, Capt. Nogie Meggison who made the appeal on behalf of airline operators in the country, in a media parley held at Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 (MMA2) yesterday, said that AON has no problem with the Authority going ahead to automate the collection and remittance of the said charges, but that the NCAA needs to give clarification on what constitutes the five per cent Ticket and Cargo sales Charge five per cent TSC.
The AON leader further said that such charges are only applicable on NUC fare in compliance with industry practice and as currently applicable to international carriers operating out of Nigeria, adding “AON members are currently remitting the five per cent TSC charges and it is on record that NCAA introduced financial clearance process for services over the last year.
Despite our Members improved payment, infrastructure and service level continue to deteriorate across all facets of the industry under the same Authority”. According to him, AON also has issues with the immediate mandatory automation without first addressing the cost of integration while sadly at the same time not asking the foreign carriers operating in Nigeria to join the same Automation platform and are charged on their base fares.
“This is wrong and discriminatory and also against ICAO Non-Discriminatory policy. As per a recommendation adopted by the ICAO Council, States are encouraged to incorporate the four key charging principles of non-discrimination, cost-relatedness, transparency and consultation with users into their national legislation, regulation or policies, as well as into their future air services agreements.