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Nigerian Airlines Facing Existential Crisis, Onyema Warns, Calls For Intervention
The Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, said the TSC dispute is not about refusal to pay, but concerns over the current collection system.
Illustrative photo of Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, and the airline’s aircraft
Air Peace Chairman, Allen Onyema, has warned that Nigeria’s aviation industry is facing an existential crisis, saying several domestic airlines could collapse within the next 30 days unless urgent measures are taken to address the challenges confronting operators.
Onyema spoke on the sidelines of the launch of Pathways, Pilgrimage and Destiny, the biography of Med-View Airline Chairman, Muneer Bankole.
The Air Peace chairman said the controversy surrounding the remittance of the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge (TSC) was not about airlines’ refusal to pay statutory charges, but the burden imposed by the current collection system.
He called for constructive engagement between the government and airline operators to develop a more practical revenue collection model, suggesting a fixed unit charge that would eliminate disputes over the components of airfares subject to the levy.
“Going into aviation is not a piece of cake. It is an industry that is not very rewarding. It is capital-intensive, yet less rewarding. Today, we are facing a phase that poses existential threats. Except something drastic is done very quickly within the next 30 days, a lot of airlines might go extinct,” Onyema said.
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Onyema also condemned threats by labour unions to picket airlines over the dispute, describing the move as unprecedented and an attempt to intimidate operators.
He maintained that airlines had consistently engaged with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation, stressing that the industry had no dispute with labour unions.
According to him, Nigerian airlines are operating under extremely harsh conditions, with high borrowing costs, inadequate infrastructure, bird strikes and multiple operating charges threatening their survival.
“If they picket any airline, others will go because there’s no need for that. There is nowhere in the world that government agencies use unions to talk about issues of debt.”
Onyema urged the Federal Government to intervene urgently to prevent further airline failures, noting that more than 50 Nigerian airlines had folded over the years despite the success of their owners in other sectors.
He expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu remained supportive of indigenous carriers and would not allow the industry to collapse.
The Air Peace chairman called for policies that would strengthen rather than weaken domestic airlines and ensure the sustainability of the aviation sector.
