NCAA suspends services to Air Peace, Arik, Overland, other airlines over unpaid debts
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended services to 11 domestic airlines over unpaid debts owed to aviation agencies.
According to an internal memo dated May 22 and signed by Olufemi Odukoya, the NCAA’s director of finance and accounts, the directive was issued on the instruction of the agency’s director-general.
The memo directed all NCAA departments to stop providing services to the affected airlines until they obtain financial clearance.
“The DGCA has directed that no directorate should render any service to the above airlines without financial clearance from the director of finance & accounts,” the memo stated.
The airlines affected include Air Peace, Ibom Air, Arik Air, United Nigeria Airlines, Umza Air, NG Eagle, Max Air, Caverton Helicopters, Overland Airways, Rano Air, and ValueJet.
The development comes weeks after the Aviation Ground Handlers Association of Nigeria (AGHAN) threatened to withdraw services from airlines over unpaid debts. The association had issued a three-day ultimatum, warning that operations could be disrupted from May 6 if the debts were not settled.
In April, President Bola Tinubu approved a 30 percent discount on debts owed by domestic airlines to aviation agencies in an effort to ease the financial burden on operators.
Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, had explained that the debts covered parking charges owed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), navigational fees payable to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and other outstanding obligations.
