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Agencies may become self-sustaining by 2015

By on May 31, 2014

Strong indications have emerged that the  aviation agencies, including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigeria Meteorological  Agency (NIMET) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will have the ability to generate enough revenue to sustain  their operations and engage in capital expenditure by the end of 2015.

This will be possible if all the projects designed to boost revenue for these agencies are completed and put to use. However, NCAA, which relies on passenger service charge (PSC) has been operating on self-sustaining basis and it is autonomous  although government still carries out critical projects for the regulatory agency.
Also, with the effective use of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRCON), improved communication and performance based navigation, NAMA has been able to improve its revenue from charges of over flyers; that is, flights that pass through the Nigerian airspace to other destinations.

Although NIMET receive a certain percentage of the PSC revenues from NCAA along with the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NIMET), Zaria, the agency has improved its revenue by providing services to other sectors besides aviation, like the agriculture and maritime sectors.
FAAN   controls 22 airports in the country and is expected to be able quadruple its revenue when the current airport rehabilitation projects are completed.

A senior official of the Ministry of Aviation told THISDAY that the objective of the Aviation Master Plan was to make the aviation agencies financially autonomous and also for them to contribute to the nation’s GDP and this plan would be realised by end of next year.

However, this is hinged on the completion of business projects like the satellite based navigation and VHF radio communication in NAMA, the completion of the automated car park and hotel, and the completion of the five new terminals at the international airports for FAAN.

Using the World Bank as a consultant in conjunction with First Bank of Nigeria Limited,  the Ministry of Aviation has set up the plans to  introduce offerings and services that would generate both aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenues for the agencies. It is  expected that the plans already laid out would start yielding fruits by the end of next year.

However, one of the major requirements to actualise this plan is the completion of the airport infrastructural projects and service providers, like the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos that is expected to provide service to private jet operations and charter services.
The Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma said all the contractors handling construction work at all the airports in the country would be mobilised to start work on projects that were stalled by paucity of funds.

“The budget has been passed. It is our hope that any moment from now the contractors will be mobilised to the sites to complete the projects. No project has been suspended. I am aware that we are suffering from paucity of funds. We will look at everything to ensure that no project suffers,”  Uzodinma said.

 

 

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