Daily Independent (Lagos)
Abel Orukpe
22 June 2009
The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCo) has disclosed that airlines operating in the country are owing the ground handling companies in the country about a billion naira, just as it warned that time is running out for the airlines.
This was disclosed in Lagos at the weekend by the Corporate Affairs and Business Development Manager, of NAHCo, Mr. Demola Akinbola, while speaking with aviation correspondents on the debt the local and international airlines are owing the both the Sky Power Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) and NAHCo.
According to Akinbola, who did not mention the specific airlines, "both SAHCOL and NAHCO are owed about a billion naira by the airlines. For us to handle Lagos-London of B777 for instance is not up to N40, 000. How much is the cost of a business class ticket? What the airlines are paying us is little or nothing."
Akinbola contended that the airlines have no reason whatsoever to hold on to the ground handling companies money, adding that the domestic airlines are owing a higher percentage of the money.
"They don't have any reason to hold on to our money if they want to be fair to us", he lamented.
All airlines owe us; local and international but those who owe more are the local operators and we are working out a way by which we can recover this money. This is an ongoing business. But there is a level to which we can endure, both SAHCOL and NAHCo want to run profitably and they are not a charity organization."
He continued, "The airlines are collecting money upfront from the passengers and if you are collecting money upfront, then, you should be paying us upfront. So, those are the areas that when we begin to co-operate, it is going to be impossible for anybody to owe us because if you owe SAHCOL, NAHCO will not provide ground handling services for you."
He revealed that airlines have owed the ground handling companies since 2006 and that the two companies are not comfortable with the airlines debt rising profile.
"Our contracts with the airlines say 60 days credit window and once it is 60 days, we expect them to pay us to run our business. The debt we are talking about, some of them have been on since 2006 and we are worried about the rising profile of indebtedness from the airlines."
"The truth is that we can owe FAAN, because it collects five per cent of our annual turnover, which we pay as and when due. To handle the local airlines, it only cost between N30,000 to N35,000. How much is that? If the airlines want improved ground handling services, I expect them to pay.
On the cooperation between the two ground handling companies, the NAHCo spokesman said, it is just to prevent airlines from cheating the ground handlers and to ensure NAHCo and SAHCOL are not at the receiving end of the airlines pranks .
"The ground handling companies in the sector need to cooperate in order to prevent the airlines from 'cheating' us. We are being owed by the airlines but when you stop handling them, they go to SAHCOL and we want that to stop. If you owe us and you stop, there is no one that will handle you. Don't also forget that competition is about you coming together to advance the frontier of service in the industry and for us as a company, we see SAHCOL as a partner, we are not competing but rather we want to partner with the company to increase the level of service delivery in the country" he said.
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