The Nigerian Government has dismissed reports alluding that international airlines operating in the country have been rejecting the country’s currency, the naira. This was on August 10; South African Airways had informed its passengers it would no longer accept Naira for purchasing flight tickets in the country.
This recent development might be connected with the $450 million being owed to several foreign carriers stuck in the country.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority -NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu has however spoken with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, and he has reported that none of the foreign carriers had told the concerned agencies of any change in the normal ticketing modalities. The director had additionally gone on to report that the Nigerian currency was still the statutory currency of transactions in the aviation sector, adding that there were regulation mandates in place, in operating airlines to inform the NCAA where significant changes are about to be made.
The NCAA had not reviewed mandatory charges on airlines in the last 10 years and although the substantive rates are outdated, the regulators were not unmindful of the current harsh economic environment in the country according to Nuhu.
“Certainly, we would have to sit at a round-table to review the charges but not now if at all, we will have to review the charges with the stakeholders,” He had said.
The Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Capt. Rabiu Yadudu reaffirmed this when he said: “While it is true that the cost of aviation fuel has gone astronomically high and has adversely affected airline operators worldwide, culminating in an increase in ticket fares, we want to reiterate that FAAN has not increased its charges.”
