Senate Suspends NAMA’s New Charges

The Senate on Monday asked the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to suspend the new charges for non-scheduled airline operators in the country.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma, spoke when the committee mediated between the management of NAMA and representatives of Non-Scheduled Airline Operators of Nigeria in Abuja.
NAMA recently introduced new charges to the effect that operators of non scheduled airlines in the country would pay $2,500 if the aircraft is registered in Nigeria and $3,000 if it is a foreign registered aircraft.NAMA had mandated all foreign registered aircraft engaging in non-scheduled operations to pay $3,000 fee every departure except round trips without changes in passenger manifest or return ferry.
Also, all registered Nigerian aircraft that engages in non-scheduled operations was asked to pay $2,500 before every departure.
The Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Nnamdi Udo, told the lawmakers that the charges include landing, parking, navigation and terminal navigation fees. Udo added that the fees would be charged in respect of the first 10 hours after which additional parking fees would apply. The operators kicked against the new fees.
They argued that the imposition of the new charges would force wealthy Nigerians to patronise the scheduled operators in their business class at the expense of charter operators.
The Legal Adviser to the Non-Scheduled Airline Operators of Nigeria, Hon. Bala Ibn Na’Allah, told the lawmakers that the new fees were “discriminatory.”
He wondered what services NAMA renders to the non-scheduled airlines that it does not render to the scheduled airlines.


Vanguard