The chairman, senate committee on privatization, Senator Ben Bruce has lashed out at the federal government for over taxing the domestic carriers.
Bruce who spoke on the floor of the senate, Thursday, January 12 on the deteriorating state of the aviation industry in the country said “airlines can be profitable if government will stop interfering in the way they are run.”
“We are taxing the airlines to death; taxes should not be more than 5 or 10 per cent like in other countries, but we charge about 40 per cent.
“Tax agencies in Nigeria are concerned about generating revenue; this is counterproductive to the airlines.
“No airline will delay you for eight hours unless they do not have finances to buy fuel, pay pilots and other services,” he said.
Bruce therefore moved a motion in favour of lesser taxes, regulations and reduced government interference in airline operations in the country.
He warned of imminent air disaster should the federal government fail to take immediate action concerning urgent issues in the aviation industry.
“This motion is serious because an accident is about to happen, a plane will crash people will die. I urge my colleagues to take this motion seriously; find a way to work with the airlines not to kill them and find a way to make this motion productive and make it possible for them to be successful so we can live,” he said.
