NCAA Explains Why It Suspended Azman Air

Chinedu Eze

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that it suspended the operations of Azman Air on Wednesday, saying it took the action because the airline failed to provide the required documents for the renewal of its Air Transport Licence (ATL).

One of the critical documents is the tax certificate, which the airline could not provide because it failed to remit ticket and cargo sales charge amounting to N1.2 billion to the NCAA. In addition to that, the airline also failed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on how it would remit the fund, which was five per cent charge that airlines collect on behalf of the regulatory authority.

The NCAA also said the airline failed to submit security clearance for the renewal of its ATL, which expired in April 2021.
Speaking on phone with aviation journalists yesterday, the Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, said the N1.2 billion debts was the revenue accrued from the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) and Cargo sales Charge (CSC) collected from the air travellers by the airline.

The TSC/CSC is shared among five aviation agencies: NCAA, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.
The NCAA gets 58 per cent out of the total five per cent of TSC/CSC and it is the major revenue source for the agency, while the other four agencies share the remaining 42 per cent.

According to Nuhu, the regulatory agency had made efforts to recover the debt from the airline over the years, but the domestic operator was recalcitrant in paying despite collecting it from the passengers.
However, the withdrawal of the airline’s ATL has rendered its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) invalid.
Nuhu told journalists that its management had held series of meetings with Azman Air’s leadership on how to pay back the debt, but both parties failed to reach an agreement.
For instance, he explained that the management of the airline had promised to pay back the sum of N10 million monthly as part of the N1.2 billion debts, but the regulatory body insisted on N50 million monthly from the airline.

Besides, he stressed that the airline could not provide its security clearance, which was one of the prerequisites requirements for renewal of ATL.
“We didn’t suspend Azman Air’s AOC, but suspended their ATL, which had earlier expired. The ATL earlier expired in April 2021, but we gave the airline extension because of the disruption to aviation activities by the Covid-19 pandemic, just as we did for other airlines, too. However, we wrote a reminder letter to the airline six months to the new expiring date, which is statutory.

“Later, the airline requested for another extension of 90 days, but we only granted it 60 days and at the expiration of the 60 days, we also gave it 30 days reminder, which elapsed on Wednesday night, yet nothing was done by the airline.

“Besides, the airline owed us N1.2 billion as TSC/CSC. We invited them, set up a committee for that purpose. Azman said they would pay the sum of N10 million monthly out of the debt, which we refused. They later came up to N20 million, but we insist on N50 million monthly.

“If we had agreed the N10 million monthly, it means it will take them about 12 years to repay back the money it had already collected and by then, the money would have lost value.”

Nuhu said henceforth the NCAA would not renew ATL or AOC of any other airline owing the agency five per cent TSC/CSC and appealed to other operators to pay up the backlog of debts.

He warned that any airline that breached its MoU with the regulatory authority would have its operations suspended.

Reacting to its suspension, Azman Air tweeted from its verified twitter handle denying that it was suspended because it did not renew its AOC.

“This is to inform the general public that the information being circulated that Azman Air has been suspended by NCAA due to failure to renew our Air Operator Certificate is entirely false. The Air Operator Certificate issued to Azman Air is still valid till October 2022.

“The recent cancellation of flights is strictly due to operational reasons, which is currently being resolved by the management. Flights will resume accordingly. Our deepest apologies to all the passengers affected,” the airline said.

However, NCAA said it withheld the airline’s Air Transport Licence, which automatically nullifies its Air Operator Certificate.