The chairman, senate committee on aviation, Mr. Smart Adeyemi has said that the N4 billion approved for bailout of the domestic airlines would not be enough to keep the operators afloat.
Adeyemi stated this yesterday in Abuja at the beginning of a three-day public hearing on the Civil Aviation Amendment bills by the National Assembly.
The three-day event seeks to fine-tune regulatory issues as well as effective management of agencies in the aviation industry, especially the twin bills for an Act to repeal and enact the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology Act 2010.
The senator was responding to the disclosure by the minister of aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika that the airline operators would get N4 billion while other businesses in the aviation sector would be given N1 billion bailout to cushion the effect of the global coronavirus pandemic.
“The federal government has approved N4 billion as a bailout for the airlines and N1 billion for other businesses within civil aviation.
“We are already putting arrangements for the disbursement in place and once we start, it would be transparently done,” he said.
Adeyemi said the fortunes of airlines globally have degenerated because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Nigerian carriers are not left out.
He warned that if the challenges of the indigenous airlines were not urgently addressed by the government, most of the carriers may close shop.
He charged the minister to ensure increment in the palliative funds approved for the carriers.
“I do not think that N4 billion is what we are talking about. I think the federal government should give the industry all the attention it deserves.
“N4 billion is not enough. Yes you might say they are in business but their business is the soul of our economy.
“Let me take this unique opportunity to call on the federal government to explore the possibility of providing bailout funds for airline operators.
“The outbreak of the COVID-19 is a global and on-going pandemic and countries all over the world are providing bailout funds for airline operators.
“Certainly, the aviation industry was the most affected by this virus attack and, therefore, needs all the support possible to resuscitate the industry.
“In the absence of this, so many airlines will struggle to stay in business or worst still, be forced to withdraw their services.
“Bailout funds will mitigate the devastation and also discourage operators from cutting corners as the consequences can only be better imagined.
“The N4 billion approved for the airline operators is too small, going by what is happening globally in the aviation sector. If we really want to keep the airline operators in business, and we don’t want them to close shops and go home, the federal government should shore up the amount it wanted to give to the airlines operators.
“For a developed nation like Nigeria, we need to encourage the airline operators to remain in business. The situation would be worse if we fail to support them and they would have to be cutting corners. The Minister should still extend our demands to the executive council and see how CBN could come in that regard,” he said.
He advised the government to provide sufficient bailout fund to the airline to ensure “they (airline operators) don’t cut corners; the implication of which is better imagined.”
In the meantime, Sirika said airlines owe N22.2 billion to aviation agencies in the last 10 years
He said the domestic carriers owe the agencies $6.9 million and N19.6 billion respectively and lamented their inability to pay their bills to the agencies, including five per cent charge to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), passenger service charge, landing and parking fees to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and over flight charges to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
