Aviation Industry Attracts 27 new airline investors want operational licences – NCAA

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Captain Muhtar Usman, DG NCAA

The outgoing year 2018 was not too bad for the aviation industry in the level of the new investments which are welling up in the nation’s aviation industry as no fewer than 27 prospective investors have indicated interests to float new airlines while their applications are being processed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Mr. Sam Adurogboye, General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA, revealed this in a chat in Lagos while reviewing the agency’s performance in 2018.

”Investment in the sector is on the increase and we are continuing to have applications from prospective new airlines owners. We have about 27 applicants at various stages of processing,” said the NCAA image maker.

Adurogboye noted that the year 2018 was a good one for NCAA and the industry as there was no accident or mishap and the agency retained its Category One rating in the world aviation classification.

 

”The authority is still in the premier league of Category One nations in world aviation classification. This was attained in 2010 and retained in 2014 and in 2017, at a time others nations are being downgraded. Meaning that we are adjudged to be maintaining a high level of safety standard in line with international best practices.

 

”On safety, it was also a good year for us. We recorded no accident making it four years of safe operations. It is good for the industry, good for investors in the sector and good for travellers.
”Safe operations are not by accident. They are a product of strict enforcement of compliance to safety regulations,’’ he noted.

He disclosed that passenger movement in the year increased tremendously which was a product of strict enforcement of air safety regulation by the agency and compliance by airlines. ”Passenger movements have been on the increase. This arose from increasing confidence in the sector; again, good for the industry,” said he.

 

On revenue generation, the NCAA PR Manager maintained that the organisation is not a revenue generating agency. ”NCAA is not a revenue generating agency. What we do is what the international Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) termed as post recovery meaning that you are to recover the cost of putting up a facility or rendering a service. Passengers pay for existence of NCAA via 5% ticket sales charge,” he said.

 

Adurogboye noted that the automation of the agency operations had stopped delay in remittance of money to the agency by airlines and the agency worked out a programme with airlines on the recovery of old debts.

 

According to him, ”the authority has now gone through automation and, overcome the problem of delay in remitting the money collected from passengers on her behalf by airlines as this is deducted by banks at source. We have also worked out a programme with each airline by which old debt are being reduced on agreed terms.”

 

Adurogboye noted that inadequate fund is a major challenge to the organisation because it finances its operations from internally generated revenue.

 

”The challenge to us as authority is that of inadequate funds. The reason being that the agency is self financing, runs strictly on its internally generated revenue (IGR). The bulk of this 70% goes into training of staff, especially the safety group related staffers or inspectors on their mandatory programmes,” he stressed.

 

He however gave assurance that the organisation would continue to sustain safety regulations and build on the confidence of travellers and investors in the sector in 2019 and years to come.


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