Ime Akpan
The Ministerial Task Force on Illegal Private Charter Operations and Related Matters (MTF) has presented its preliminary findings which reveal that foreign-registered private aircraft owners are the most complicit in grey market charter operations in Nigeria.
The secretary of MTF, Mr Roland Iyayi, disclosed this at a briefing in Lagos at the weekend.
Presenting its initial report, Iyayi said the foreign-registered private jets are not in the registry of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria (NCAA), thereby making their tracking difficult.
“One of the things we have established is the fact that the most complicit in all the illegal charters are the foreign-registered aircraft which do not come under the purview of the NCAA,” he said.
Iyayi also said the procedures for manifesting passengers on the illegal charters are opaque. Opaque passenger manifesting involves withholding certain details about passengers and even the airline’s operational team.
The secretary also reported that the prevalence of illegal charter operations is so alarming that not only the small operators are involved in the deal but also high net worth persons.
“We have discovered the prevalence of illegal charter in the country. Even more alarming is the fact that the illegal charter operations are not restricted to the small operators in the country, but we have also found that some high-net-worth individuals have used their private jets for commercial charter,” he stressed.
Iyayi also said the MTF discovered some elements of inadequacies in the regulatory of regime associated with private jets in the country.
The MTF also picked holes in the issuance of the permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF) to their holders.
“We also established that the conditions that are attached to the issuance of PNCF are not complied with by the operators and the NCAA has not enforced same,” he added.
He further said while the illegal charter operations continued, the federal government lost huge revenue in the process, particularly within 20 years when the number of private jets increased by 350 per cent.
In 2005, available indicate that there wee 44 private jets in the Nigeria. Two decades later, in 2024, the number has risen to 157, an increase of 350 per cent,” he said.
Thereafter, Iyayi unfolded the next steps the task force would take during the remaining two months of its sitting.
“We intend to engage the public; we need everybody out there to understand that the role of this task force is fact-finding and to make recommendations that would be taken to curtail the practice of illegal charter operations.
“What we are asking is that the public come forward with information that would help the task force unravel issues surrounding illegal charters and be able to reach reasonable conclusions that would help the growth of the aviation industry.
“We will also conduct whistle-blowing interviews. The interviews will be structured in such a way that the identity of the individual who will come forward will be fully protected and guaranteed. We will also carry out interviews with key industry players,” Iyayi stated.
