The Federal Government has announced plans to waive debts owed by domestic airlines to aviation agencies as part of measures to cushion the impact of the ongoing Jet A1 fuel crisis.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this during a high-level meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, convened to address the astronomical rise in the cost of Jet A1 fuel.
Keyamo said, “I had the privilege of meeting Mr President to brief him about the meeting, and Mr President mandated us to quickly bring a request to him. And the first request that he will consider and grant is a generous discount on the debts the airlines are owing the aviation agencies, NAMA, FAAN, NCAA, and so on.
“The percentage of discounts and all that Mr President will decide, he is so concerned about what is happening. And he asked me in particular to express his deep appreciation to the airline operators. He knows the conditions under which we operate. And he said he should thank you for not raising your prices despite all that has happened. So he has to also respond.”
The minister added that the President would also consider broader reforms to reduce the burden of multiple charges on domestic air travel.
“The second request Mr President has asked that we should bring for him to consider fully and grant is that he wants to set up a committee to address the issues of levies, taxes, and fees on domestic tickets once and for all. This request has been on for a long time. So Mr President will put the team together, and he’ll give them a deadline to report to him as quickly as possible on the government fees and charges and levies that we can take off domestic tickets for now to give respite to Nigerians who are also buying their tickets.
“And of course, he’ll consider a date for the airline operators to meet him one-on-one for the other more robust discussions regarding access to capital and all of that,” he said.