The revenue stream of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the apex aviation regulatory authority, has shrunk by 90 percent between January and May following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Director-General of the authority, Captain Musa Nuhu, who revealed this on Friday, also warned that many holders of Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in Nigeria may not survive the COVID-19 crisis following the flights’ restriction put in place to contain the spread of the pandemic.
He spoke at the webinar on “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Aviation Sector: The Way Forward”.
Nuhu, in his presentation, noted that many airlines all over the world may not survive the COVID-19 crisis as the big carriers have continued to lay off workers, saying Nigerian airlines are not insulated from the crisis.
He noted that while IATA has projected $900million loss for Nigerian airlines, the loss is going to be seven times higher in the entire aviation.
Nuhu reiterated that the loss of revenues by the Nigerian airlines following the flight suspension has put a lot of burden on the regulatory body, as it is a safety issue.
“Under the Civil Aviation Regulations, one of our duties is economic regulations of the airlines, to help the airlines survive but the COVID-19 has really set us back greatly,” he said.
He emphasized that about 80 percent of the NCAA’s revenues come from the Ticket Sale Charge and Cargo Sale Charge (TSC/CSC), disclosing that from January to date, the revenue of the NCAA dropped by 90 percent.
He said the Federal Government is committed to assisting the airlines in their recovery plan, saying the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, had directed the authority to come up with measures to assist the airlines.
He said, “It is a huge problem for us as a regulatory body but we can get out of this working together. The regulator, service providers, must work together because if we don’t do that, it will be a total disaster.”
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