NCAA pushes back as airlines blame taxes for high fares

By Dickson Omobola

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has disagreed with airline operators over claims that rising airfares are being driven by multiple taxation in the sector.

Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, fingered high taxes as one of the reasons for increase in fares and warned that with the new tax laws expected to take effect from January 1, 2026, air tickets could rise to over N1 million.

Speaking on Arise TV, Onyema, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, said: “The Nigerian airlines are heavily overburdened by taxes, levies and all manner of charges. The tax law of 2020 removed customs duties on imported aircraft and imported aircraft spares and engines, removed VAT on imported aircraft and other spare parts, removed VAT on ticket fares. That is the 2020 Act,

“With 7.5 per cent on ticket fares starting from January, ticket fares will hit over a million Naira soon. In the annexe International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, it is stated that VAT should not be charged on ticket fares, but that is done here.”

Meanwhile, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Mike Achimugu, countered the airlines on X, saying they were trying to throw the government under the bus.

He stated, “Lies have been told over this matter, over and over. I have addressed this on national TV, major news platforms, and via my X handle. While the NCAA does not regulate airfares, I have invited all of the domestic airlines, bar none, and asked them about these taxes they keep talking about on TV. They all admitted to not paying the volume of taxes being bandied around.

“I don’t understand this 350k and 81k narrative, but I know that, for the kind of support that President Bola Tinubu, the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, and the DG NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo has given to domestic carriers; I see no reason why the government keeps getting thrown under the bus via statements like this.

“It is even ironic that, in the same statement, it is alleged that Nigerians pay the lowest domestic airfares in the world while also justifying the astronomical airfares that came into play in December even though there was no hike in taxes or jet fuel.

“If my inviting the airlines themselves, speaking with travel agents, and the relevant departments within the authority did not agree with the narrative being pushed, I don’t see how this is sustainable.

“If high taxes were the reason why airfares were N150,000-200,000, why did tickets go as high as 500k for a 45-minute trip when the said taxes did not increase?

“And this is happening at a time when Festus Keyamo has ensured that domestic carriers now have access to dry lease aircraft; something they have not had in decades.”

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