The president of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representative in Nigeria (AFARN), Dr Kingsley Nwokoma has urged the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to do away with all the multiple taxes at the country’s airports.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Lagos, Nwokoma said aeronautical and non-aeronautical charges are quite high in Nigeria adding that Nigerian airports are the most expensive in the world.
“I am calling on FAAN to review the duplication of charges because without aircraft coming to the airports, there are will be no airports.
“We have kept talking about it without getting any solution from the government. That is why at some point most cargo carriers stopped coming into Nigeria. There are duplications of the same charges.
“The only way to attract investors is for us to improve our ease of doing business and try to be at par with other nations when it comes to charges. For export in Ghana it is zero taxes. That is why products from Ghana you see them in supermarkets all over the world. But our case is different,” he said.
The AFRAN president also said doing away with duplication of taxes would encourage more airlines to come into Nigeria.
“When you go through FAAN charges, you see the charges that even the clearing agents and owners of shipments pay. That is why the International Civil Organisation (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) declared that Nigerian airports are the most expensive. They have done all their findings before coming to such a conclusion,” he said.
Nevertheless, Nwokoma said Nigeria’s aviation industry has fared better “even though we can do better given our endowed human, material and natural resources as a nation.”
He listed the landmark achievements in the aviation industry to include the improved rating of the sector from the previous 49 per cent to about 70 per cent following the signing of the Cape Town Convention (CTC) Practice Directions, facilitation of Air Peace’s operations to London, reduction of fare by foreign airlines, performance of the country’s aviation industry in the ICAO security audit.
On the other hand, Nwokoma expressed concern about the shutting down of Dana Air operations, the lingering issue at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as regard the appointment of the substantive director general, high cost of aviation fuel, and low cargo traffic, among others.
