The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has announced a temporary suspension of its “No Pay, No Service” enforcement against domestic airlines owing statutory fees, citing the difficult operating conditions currently facing the aviation industry.
Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo, disclosed this in a statement issued in Lagos, explaining that the move followed consultations with stakeholders and an assessment of challenges confronting airline operators, especially the rising cost of Jet A1 aviation fuel.
Najomo clarified that the suspension does not amount to a cancellation or waiver of the debts, stressing that all affected airlines are still expected to fully settle their outstanding obligations.
He recalled that President Bola Tinubu had previously approved a 30 per cent reduction on outstanding charges owed by local carriers to aviation agencies, including the NCAA, as part of efforts to ease financial pressure on operators.
According to him, the Federal Government’s intervention was designed to support airlines and maintain stability in the country’s aviation sector amid increasing operational costs.
The NCAA boss stated that the authority would continue engaging individual airlines through structured repayment arrangements aimed at recovering outstanding debts without jeopardising industry sustainability.
Najomo explained that the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge is a statutory levy established under the Civil Aviation Act and built into the cost of passenger tickets and cargo services.
He said the charges are collected by airlines on behalf of the aviation system and are meant to be remitted to the NCAA for regulatory and operational purposes.
According to him, the funds are not part of airline revenue or profit and should not be treated as operational income.
He further explained that after remittance, the funds are distributed among the NCAA and other aviation service providers responsible for maintaining safe and internationally compliant aviation operations in Nigeria.
Najomo also noted that the NCAA operates mainly on a cost-recovery basis and does not depend on direct Federal Government funding for its routine regulatory activities, making statutory remittances essential to its operations.
He said the temporary suspension of the directive was adopted as a precautionary measure to avoid disruptions in airline services while discussions on debt recovery continue.
Earlier, the NCAA had issued an internal directive instructing its departments to suspend regulatory and administrative services to 11 domestic airlines over unpaid statutory charges.
The affected airlines included Air Peace, Ibom Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Max Air, Overland Airways, ValueJet and several others listed under the regulator’s updated “No Pay, No Service” category.