Leadership (Abuja)
Alu Kingsley
21 August 2008
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has vowed to ground operating airlines in the country that failed to settle the debt they owed the aviation regulatory body.
Chairman Presidential Taskforce on the Aviation Industry, Air Marshal Paul Dike, revealed yesterday that international and local airlines operating in the country owed NCAA N2.6bn.
The chairman said that the debt accumulated from the failure of the operating airlines in the country to remit 5 per cent of their ticket sales and cargo charges to the regulatory authority as required by law.
Media Assistant to NCAA Director-General, Mr. Samuel Adurogboye, said that the agency might be forced to ground the airlines as a last option to enable it recover the debt owed it .
Although he was not forth coming with the names of the affected airlines, Adurogboye said the regulatory agency had been mounting 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."
He also disclosed that new insurance claims rules for airline passengers in the event of accident were underway, adding that before the new rates were revealed , NCAA was insisting on a flat insurance claim of $100,000 for local passengers as recommended by the Dike panel.
The presidential task force 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. 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." Dike said".
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