Kenneth Ehigiator
28 November 2008
Airline operators yesterday alerted of a looming danger in the aviation industry if nothing is done urgently about the menace of bird strikes at the nation's airports.
This came as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recommended raising ticket sales charge (TSC) charged by airlines on passengers' tickets from 5% to 10% for the purpose of sourcing funds to address infrastructure gaps in the aviation industry in Nigeria.
Deputy Managing Director of Aerocontractors, Capt. Roland Iyayi, who raised the alarm on behalf of his airline and other operators at an aviation forum in Lagos yesterday, said the problem has become so serious now that if urgent steps were not taken to nip the problem in the bud, the birds could attack the two engines of a twin-engine aircraft and bring it down.
According to him, airlines are spending huge sums of their earnings to fix engines damaged by birds.
"In 2007 alone, Aero expended $7.3 million on maintenance of engines due to hazards from birds. It is actually very serious now because the birds can attack the two engines of an aircraft and that is disaster," Capt. Iyayi said.
Confirming his fears, Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, said the bird strike situation has become so serious that it required the attention of all stakeholders, especially the airports authorities.
He feared that two engines of a twin-engine aircraft could be struck by birds, stressing that it would be disastrous for this to happen.
On the ticket sales charge, Demuren said time had come for the charge to be raised to 10% from 5% as that, according to him, remains the only way aviation parastatals could source money to improve facilities at airports across the country.
"It was actually 10% we recommended to government years ago when funds were not forthcoming, but President Ibrahim Babangida cut it down to 5%. But now that government is again saying it can no longer fund aviation, I suggest we raise it to 10.
"If this happens, NAMA will have more money to spend; NCAT will have more money to spend; NIMET will have more money to spend and service delivery at airports will improve for airline operators to use," he said.
He said the funds realised from the charges should be domiciled at the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) for airlines that cannot pay compensation to victims of accidents to access for the purpose.
But Capt. Iyayi disagreed, saying that the 5% VAT already imposed on every ticket sold to passengers by airlines should be converted to the current 5% TSC to make up the 10%.
He said it was an aberration for airlines to be asked to pay VAT when no value was being added to their operations by service providers at airports across the country.
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