‘NAMA’s Airline Charges’re Approved by IATA’

Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Auyo, has said    charges     the airlines operating in the nation’s airspace and landing at Nigerian airports pay are standardised and endorsed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Auyo, in an exclusive interview with THISDAY, said it is even IATA that collects most of those charges on behalf of the agency, especially from international airlines, and that the charges are in tandem with price schedule in other parts of the world.

The NAMA boss also emphasised that the agency is not collecting all the charges it should collect from the airlines, noting that the major challenge it has is that domestic airlines are so highly indebted to NAMA and other aviation agencies.

Auyo also stressed that the agency would have enough money to carry out its operations if government makes the domestic carriers offset their bills. “Air navigation charges are fixed all over the world. It is fixed; the type of aircraft; the weight of aircraft; the distance you fly within the airspace. IATA gives us the go ahead with the charges. We cannot go beyond IATA standard,” he added. Last week, IATA said that African nations, through government aviation agencies, give exorbitant charges to airlines, which leads to their going under within a short time.
The regional vice-president, Africa, Mike Higgins, made the observation during a two days IATA conference held in Lagos.

Higgins noted that many airlines in the continent operate without profit, which ensures that their future is not guaranteed, and that explains why many airlines that operate in the region never celebrate their 10th birthdays.

source : Thisday