How FG should shore up domestic airlines – Medview Chairman

Stories from Suleiman Idris, Lagos

The survival of domestic airlines operating in Nigeria is hinge upon the collapse of the present multiple charges into a single entity from where the various service rendering agencies will draw their fees from, the Managing Director of Medview Airlines has said.

Alhaji Muneer Bankole, who spoke in Lagos said the collection of fees ranging from passenger service charge, landing and parking fees amidst sundry others should be streamline into one pocket to minimise overhead cost incur by airlines operating on the domestic routes.

He said “I believe our major problem is double charges. I would say here that the government agencies primarily responsible to provide services like FAAN, NAMA, those that collect PSC, TSC and other sundry charges should bring it to one fold so that it will reduce to the barest level to encourage domestic operators.”

For government to help domestic operators all these should go into one pocket so that it will be minimal to reduce the overhead of the problem which all the airlines are facing, because the major enemy of the game is fuel, we keep going back and forth over the issue of aviation fuel price, it jump from N152 to N165, in some areas N170.

These are things that actually run the business down.”

Alhaji Bankole laments the absence of a maintenance facility in the country, a situation that force airlines to carry out both minor and major repairs and maintenance abroad, he affirmed that ” It is very sad and unfortunate. It means that the money we are collecting now will go to the parallel, if you make money in Naira component and you want to do services or maintenance on your aircraft, you go to the parallel market to buy them in dollars, then what is left for you to handle other operations?”