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The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has said it will raise en-route navigational charges from N2000 and N6,000 to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight. The airspace agency equally increased the extension of hours of service to airlines from N50,000 to 450,000, representing an 800 percent increase per extension
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has said it will raise en-route navigational charges from N2000 and N6,000 to N18,000 and N54,000 per flight. The airspace agency equally increased the extension of hours of service to airlines from N50,000 to 450,000, representing an 800 percent increase per extension to enable the agency to recover the cost of diesel and other logistics. This, the agency, claimed is to recover the cost of the extension.
Stakeholders say this implies that air fares would rise to reflect the new increase in charges. Umar Ahmed Farouk, the Managing Director of NAMA, disclosed this information at the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondent (LAAC) seminar held in Lagos, which had the theme, “Aviation Survivability amidst a Challenging Macro-Economic Environment.
NAMA and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in January held a strategic meeting with some airline operators under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to review what has been described as the outdated N16,000 Terminal Enroute Navigational Charges (TNS).
The meeting held in Abuja was called at the instance of the NCAA and NAMA to get the understanding of the airlines on the review of the rate which the airlines admitted needed to be reviewed. The implication of NAMA’s action to cushion its high cost of airspace surveillance and security could further lead to astronomical increases in domestic airfares and by extension fares on international routes.
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Farouk further disclosed that for 2023, NAMA had an expenditure of about N21 billion in personnel costs alone, over N12 billion in capital costs, and over N10 billion in overhead costs, adding that all these were to be (and were) funded from fees (no FGN budgetary allocation).
